|
Date: |
|
Description: | An incomplete copper alloy pilgrim button or badge of Saint Barbara, of Late Medieval dating (AD 1475 to AD 1525).The badge is sub circular in shape, with engrailed sides, creating an octogon shape with inward curving sides and points. The front has been engraved with a design depicting a nimbed (or haloed) St Barbara, in a Tudor style dress with a square neckline. St Barbara is holding a book of the Gospels in her right hand and a palm frond in her left, symbolising her martyrdom. In the background to the right of St Barbara a walled town or a castle is depicted. The whole scene is enclosed by a punched line following the outer profile of the mount and forming a border. An inscription reading: SANCTA BARBARA is present along the top of the design. The rear face is flat and undecorated. The remains of an attachment loop are present at the centre of the reverse. It measures 27.3 mm in length, 26.9 mm wide and 4.1 mm thick. It weighs 6.6 g. The button is a mid to light grey colour, with an even surface patina. Non destructive XRF analysis undertaken at the Conservation Laboratory, Birmingham Museum has indicated that the elemental composition is Tin 28.69%, Lead 4.13%, Iron 1.38%, Copper 61.22%, Zinc 4.38% and Silver 0.19%.A couple of similar St Barbara plaques or mounts, but no buttons or badges with a similar design, have been recorded on the PAS database, including: WAW-57F141, SUR-959317 and IOW-871B11. Spencer (1998, 178) notes that St Barbara gave protection from sudden death and she becaome very popular in during the late 15th to early 16th Century.The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Farmer, 1978, 28) has the following description. '[St Barbara] was shut up in a tower by her father Dioscorus, so that no man should see her. None the less princes sought her hand in marriage. She became a Christian while her father was away and decided to live as a hermit in a bath-house he had built. Here she made the workman add a third window in honour of the Holy Trinity. In his fury at her becoming a Christian, he nearly killed her, but she was handed over to a judge who condemned her to death. Her father was struck by lightning and died. This was the basis of her patronage of those in danger of sudden death, first by lightning, and then by subsiding mines or cannon-balls. Hence, her patronage of miners and gunners. The first known representation of her is an 8th-century fresco at S. Maria Antiqua, Rome; she is found, often with the equally mythical Margaret of Antioch, on late medieval English screens and stained glass. Her usual emblem is a tower. The painting of her by Jan van Eyck in the museum at Antwerp is probably the most famous representation'.Reference:Farmer, D. H. 1978 The Oxford Dictionary of Saints'. Oxford: Clarendon PressSpencer, B. 1998. Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges. Medieval Finds from Excavations in London: 7. London. The Stationery Office.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
MOUNT
An almost complete sheet copper…
-
MOUNT
A Medieval cast copper-alloy mount…
-
MOUNT
A cast copper alloy mount…
-
MOUNT
A cast copper alloy mount…
|