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Description: | Copper alloyPossible Harness Pendant. Cast pendant with a presumably apical perforation of diameter 3.5mm in the same plane. The form is an irregular quatrefoil with spurs projecting above two rounded lobes; a smaller rounded lobe projects between them opposite an angular projection with the hole. The three curved lobes are divided and bordered by incised lines, and the field afforded by the larger pair is filled with closely spaced parallel curving lines.The provision for suspension differs from that associated with medieval heraldic pendants, on which the loop is usually set at right angles to the plane of the display face. The design might resemble a motif based on an heraldic emblem such as a bouget (water carrier) or butterfly, though in both case the spurs seem superfluous. The object bears a disconcerting resemblance to a recumbent penis with testicles, though again the side spurs remain unexplained, and such a motif is unfamiliar to this reporter. Roman pendants and Medieval badges represent the phallus in more active state, while in the English Civil War, Royalist cavalry standards occasionally bore provocative designs, though again depicted in robust condition (one reportedly bore sword and phallus and the legend 'Ready with either weapon'). At all events, the crudely incised decoration indicates a pre-Modern date. Suggested date: Post-Medieval, 1500-1700.Height: 36.1mm, Width: 35.1mm, Thickness: 2.3mm, Weight: 8.86gms.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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