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Description: | A complete copper alloy heraldic horse harness swivel banner dating to the late 13th or early 14th century AD. The banner is shaped like a flag, with a (now squashed) hollow cylindrical shaft allowing it to be mounted over a vertical rod (Ashley 2002). The banner is decorated on both sides, unusually with two different arms; traces of enamel and gilding survives on both sides and is enough to be able to identify the tinctures and therefore the arms. These are the arms of de Clifford (checky or and azure, on a bend gules theee lions passant argent), teamed with the arms of de Clare (Or, three chevrons gules) on the opposing side of the banner.Because of the crude nature of their manufacture it is thought that most harness pendants decorated tack of the horses of retainers and stewards and possibly farm animals, rather than those of the nobility (Griffiths 1986). Similar banners, although with different heraldic devices are illustrated by Ashley (2002:25, fig 24). Recorded examples of rotating banners on the PAS database include BH-F099C6, KENT-D7CCF3, NMS-9F6934 and SF-D8EDA2; this appears to be the first example bearing two different arms recorded on the database.
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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