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Description: | An incomplete cast copper alloy Medieval openwork horse harness pendant, c.12th century.The pendant consists of a wide, piriform outer frame, distorted on one upper side and missing a portion of the opposite lower side. Within this is a pelican pecking her own breast, commonly depicted 'in her piety' feeding young below, here missing; this symbolises the sacrifice of Christ in Medieval Christian iconography.The pendant has a broken integral suspension loop running perpendicular to the front face of the pendant. The pendant is worn and has a dark green patina, with possible traces of black lacquer. The pendant is 40.7 mm in length, 31.0 mm wide at the widest point and 2.9 mm thick. The pendant weighs 7.2 grams.Although this seems to be a common motif for surface decoration, this seems to be the first pendant depicting the pelican in a moulded design. Other depictions of the pelican in her piety on pendants can be seen in WILT-CF1245 and NLM-D8E523. Similar openwork pendants seem to be often attributed to Romanesque design, suggesting a 12th century date, cf PAS database SF-951660 and HAMP1306.
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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