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Description: | Copper alloy, possibly with enamel tracesCasket or reliquary. Viewed from the outside, this would form the top left hand corner from the rectangular door of a casket, reliquary, ciborium or portable devotional object. The outer surface bears a low relief cast design of arcs framing paired leaves which flank individual fruit or florets; the composition closely resembles that characteristic of later medieval grisaille window glass, as most commonly known from ecclesiastical settings. These designs often alluded to the Eucharistic bread and wine. The principle arcs are flanked by gutters which retain possible traces of colorant. The inner surface is plain save for a single line of incised lettering in Lombardic script, with the letters up to 20mm high. The fragmentary inscription appears to read: [--]HELPE', and is clearly incomplete. A border comprising an incised line with diagonal hatching below it may have separated this from further lines of text. This object is probably from the door of a portable container bearing apt decoration on the outside, and a pious or prayerful inscription within. Decoration and inscription may both have related to the subject which the doors protected when closed, and would seem apt to the later medieval vogue for personal piety. Inter alia, they implies the literacy of its owner and user. Suggested date: late Medieval, 1350-1500.Height: 33.9mm, Width: 44.9, Thickness: 2.2mm, Weight: 22.40gms.
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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