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Description: | A complete copper alloy harness pendant of medieval date. The pendant is shield shaped with an integral suspension loop projecting centrally from the upper edge. The perforation of the loop is at right angles to the shield itself. The front face has a heraldic motif bearing the arms of England: gules three lions passant guardant (three gold lions on red) though only two lions can now be clearly defined as the upper most is obscured by the addition of a possible mark of cadency. This is in the form of a horizontal strip with three rectangular tags argent hanging down. The reverse is undecorated.The metal has a mid brownish-green patina and is worn. The pendant is 44mm long, 28.4mm wide, 3.7mm thick and weighs 10.9g.Cadency is a means by which to distinguish similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family and is formed by adding marks called brisures. A label of three points, as on this example is representative of the first son and will be removed from the arms following the death of the father when the son inherits the plain coat.A similar harness pendant has been recorded on the PAS database as HAMP-51B1D3.
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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