File:Harness pendant (FindID 87143).jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Original file(1,483 × 1,368 pixels, file size: 233 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Summary[edit]

Harness pendant
Photographer
Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service, Faye Minter, 2005-02-11 09:55:38
Title
Harness pendant
Description
English: A gilt bronze pendant 34mm long, 25mm wide at the widest point, and of metal 2mm thick. The pendant is axe-shaped, with a lengthened stem, and with modelled and chip-carved pair of bird's or beast's heads arising from the outer corners of the'axe-blade'. The surface of the axe-shape has a double-framed outline, and encloses an interlace pattern formed of a triple-strand ribbon, i.e. a ribbon with two median grooves. In the upper part of the pendant this forms a simple three-strand plait with asymmmetrical loops, but in the lower section it develops into three separate strands looped around one another, not all of which have coherent extensions beyond the points at which the ribbons cross. These incomplete ribbons are assembled in such a way as to suggest the limbs of a disintegrated animal without actually containing any recognisably zoomorphic detail. There is a reddish-brown finish to the gilding which may be the result of the deposit of some chemical or organic matter on the object when lost or buried. The reverse is without ornament, but has the remains of a blackish substance forming a square strap aligned with the vertical stem of the axe-pendant. It may indeed be a residue of a leather strap, for a central bronze rivet passes through it into the back of the metal plate, and there is a further accumulation of corrosion products near the top of the stem, perhaps concealing another rivet.
 

Axe-shaped pendants from other contexts are usually associated with horse-harness furniture, and especially occur in conjunction with circular discs as ornamental pendants from them. In such cases the three-strand interlace, often with zoomorphic details, is typical, especially in East Anglian contexts of the later sixth and early seventh centuries. These pendants however are normally larger and wider than the present example. Axe-shaped gilt pendants with zoomorphic chip-carving from Barham and Coddenham are probably on the later side, while those found in context with their bridle in the equestrian grave at Sutton Hoo Mound 17 are probably among the earlier examples. The Sutton Hoo harness also includes smaller pendants (not axe-shaped), with human faces on them. The present example is more along that scale, and although the general axe-like shape of the item, and the paired birds' heads and three-strand interlace show clear connections with the examples mentioned, this present specimen is perhaps a 'small pendant' from a bridle context like the small Sutton Hoo mounts, rather than part of the primary or more massive ornaments. Of course it may have been from an unusually small set, perhaps for a palfrey. In either case, the black marks on the back appear to derive from a strap terminalwhich hung down from another mountso that this piece could be suspended below it. It is probably East Anglian work, of high quality, of the period approx 570-630 AD.
Depicted place (County of findspot) Suffolk
Date between 570 and 630
Accession number
FindID: 87143
Old ref: SF-A3C400
Filename: SUSSF-A3C400.jpg
Credit line
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk
Source https://finds.org.uk/database/ajax/download/id/51021
Catalog: https://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/51021/recordtype/artefacts archive copy at the Wayback Machine
Artefact: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/87143
Permission
(Reusing this file)
Attribution-ShareAlike License

Licensing[edit]

w:en:Creative Commons
attribution share alike
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Attribution: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum
You are free:
  • to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
  • to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
  • attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current17:01, 2 February 2017Thumbnail for version as of 17:01, 2 February 20171,483 × 1,368 (233 KB) (talk | contribs)Portable Antiquities Scheme, SF, FindID: 87143, early medieval, page 2455, batch direction-asc count 24263

The following page uses this file:

File usage on other wikis

The following other wikis use this file:

Metadata