Rights Holder: The Portable Antiquities Scheme
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Unique ID: IOW-D05B58
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
An incomplete Medieval copper-alloy Limoges style mount (c. 1150-c. 1300).
The mount is in the form of a human figure (anthropomorphic) with champlevé enamel decoration. The head is solid and has deep sockets for the eyes. One eye socket is empty and the other is filled with blue enamel. It has a nose which is just discernable and a well defined chin. The neck splays to a flat body which is in two parts. At the front, the lower part of the body is robed and recesses form folds. These recesses are partially filled with blue enamel but most is decayed. At the centre, close to the lower edge of the body, there is a circular attachment hole which has a diameter of 2.9mm. There would have been another rivet hole further above in the missing part. The rear face (but not the head) is concave.
This mount is reddish brown with light green copper-alloy corrosion products. The breaks are old. There is no trace of gilding.
Head: length: 24.8mm width: 8.0mm; thickness: 8.5mm.
Body: length: 27.7mm; width: 19.4mm; thickness: 1.1mm.
Overall weight: 9.57g.
This mount was probably made in the late 12th-13th century AD. On stylistic grounds it would be attributed to the great manufacturing centre of Limoges, France. The figure depicts what is usually described as a "saint" or perhaps an "apostle" and were originally attached to caskets or reliquaries, and sometimes crosses. Such mounts have been recovered from a number of prestigious ecclesiastical sites such as Salisbury, London and Winchester. A similar type of mount is illustrated in Saunders (ed), 2001, Medieval Catalogue (vol. 3, pages 41-2).
Similar mounts have been recorded on The Portable Antiquities Scheme database. For example, see finds: BERK-2BA546; BERK-7FC197; DEV-F8EC7C; DUR-B54092; IOW-B137B5; KENT-94EF8A; LANCUM-10A482; LEIC-11829B; LEIC-3E2F66; LIN-451842; LVPL-D02C10; SUSS-1BDE96; SWYOR-5E4FD4; SWYOR-551697; SWYOR-76EF20; WAW-D0DB62; WILT-2B8AA5; WILT-597678 and WMID-4EEE47.
Saunders, P. (2001) Medieval Catalogue part 3. Salisbury, Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum.
Notes:
The two fragments were found "about two feet apart" (pers.comm. David Mortimer-Kelly, 12/10/2016.
Class: Limoges
Current location of find: Finder
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1150
Date to: Circa AD 1300
Quantity: 1
Length: 27.7 mm
Width: 19.4 mm
Thickness: 1.1 mm
Weight: 9.57 g
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 5th October 2016 - Wednesday 5th October 2016
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Other reference: IOW2016-4-42
Primary material: Copper alloy
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with enamel
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saunders, P. | 2001 | Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Medieval Catalogue Part 3 | Salisbury | Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum | 41-2 |