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Description: | A cast, copper alloy, medieval heraldic pendant, with enamel, dating from 1250-1400. It is a "heater shaped" shield similar to "London Museum Medieval Catalogue" page 118, figure 38 (II). It is complete with its suspension loop. Considerable red enamel remains, plus some evidence of silvering, some of which may have turned to a degraded deposit. It measures 47.11 including the loop x 25.02mm wide x 2.42mm thick. The loop itself is 13.41mm long x 7.72 mm thick. It weighs 10.63gm.The heraldry is ermine, a bend gules (red). Ermine in heraldry means a, normally, white background with with the symbol for the black tail of the ermine. Ermine usually means a field of several of these symbols. In this case represented by three symbols on each side of the bend. For an example of ermine with the white background see Ashley "Medieval Armorial Horse Furniture in Norfolk" No. 134 pages 15 & 42 (not the same coat of arms as this 1). No 134 has since been varnished to keep the white in place. There are some pendants on the PAS database with ermine in the arms (again not the arms on this pendant), but the background colour is usually not clear. White on its own is not really a heraldic colour . It is usually just used as a substitute for the normal argent (silver). This pendant has remnants of silvering, thus indicting this use. This is perhaps confirmed by the bend being recessed below the surface of the ermine field, to take the enamel. The field of enamel is thus suitable to accept the thinner metallic finish. Thus leaving the pendant surface at an equal level.The arms of this pendant could refer to Henry Apeldefeld (Apulderfield), his arms on the Dering Roll of Arms c1375. Or John Waleys, his arms on the First Dunstable Roll 1308, and the Parliamentary Roll c1315. See Humphery-Smith "Anglo- Norman Armory Two" page 135. The arms of a John Waleys at Calais in 1348 is the same, but reversed. See Foster "The Dictionary of Heraldry". Perhaps the Apeldefeld family complained that the Waleys family were bearing the same arms as themselves, as they seem to have the prior claim. The Apeldefeld family held land in Kent and the Waleys in Worcestershire. The find of this pendant near Ely, does thus not point to either family. Both famililes could have had reason to travel to Cambridgeshire on the King's business.
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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