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Description: | Copper alloy harness pendant. Cast rhomboid plate with an oval suspension loop at right angles to the display plane. The display face bears the image of a mythical creature with a human head and an animal's body and tail. The human element is viewed in profile and appears as a caricature of a man with prominent nose and lips, wearing a wimple and hat or hood whose tail hangs down behind his head. The body of the beast is coiled to fit the available remaining space, and it has a clawed leg below and to the right, and a tail with a modestly tufted end. The visual effect of its compression is comparable to that of Anglo-Saxon interlaced beasts, to which this has otherwise no relation. The hybrid creature appears against a ground of red enamel. The object may compare to a pendant presenting a mythical beast from Norfolk, there seen against a blue ground (Ashley 2002, fig. 17 no. 155). The creature may be a character from literature or popular culture, or a caricature of a particular person or class of person. Suggested date: Medieval, 1250-1350.Length: 44mm, Width: 31.3mm, Thickness (clear of loop): 2mm, Weight: 9.48gms.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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