|
Date: |
|
Description: | Medieval cast copper alloy heraldic harness pendant. The pendant is shield shaped with a straight top and convex sides which meet at a point at the bottom. From the middle of the top edge projects a transverse suspension loop. The loop has a rectangular sectioned shank widening to a ring shaped terminal which projects slightly forward of the main pendant.The front of the pendant is decorated with the arms: Quarterly argent and gules fretty or, overall a bendlet sable; ie silver quarters alternating with red quarters with a gold crosscross design on the red and a black diagonal line over all. The red enamel survives well and there are small traces of black enamel in the bend. Traces of silvering or tinning survive in the upper left and lower right corners and traces of gilding on the fretty in the upper right corner. The back and loop are plain and the top left corner is damaged with a patinated break. It is 39.3mm long including the loop, 28.5 excluding it, 22.3mm wide and 6.9mm thick including the loop, 2.8mm excluding it. The pendant weighs 8.21g.Harness pendants are generally dated from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, with enamelled and heraldic types predominating in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (Griffiths, 1995:62). 'Quarterly argent and gules fretty or, overall a bendlet sable' are the arms of the Despencers, Earl Hugh the Elder and the Younger. The younger Hugh Despencer (favorite of Edward II) used these arms differenced with a label during his fathers lifetime (see WILT-FFE234) and only survived his father by a month so this pendant is more likely to refer to the Hugh Despencer the Elder (1261-1326). The arms may indicate a supporter of the Despencers or a retainer. See PUBLIC-450195 and KENT5000 on this database for similar examples with the same arms.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
|