VESSEL

A copper alloy zoomorphic Anglo-Saxon hook from a hanging bowl. The object is curved in profile and is elaborately cast in the form of a beast, possibly a dog.

The terminal of the beast has an elongated snout which is D-shaped in cross-section. Sitting above the snout within a raised border or collet are two circular eyes formed out of green glass. The glass is degraded and appears 'frosted', but is translucent when a light is shone across. Between and joining the eyes are two moulded ridges separated with a groove. Above the eyes, at the top of the head, two rounded ears extend upwards. The ears are slightly concave at the front and convex at the rear. Underneath the head the snout is flat and steps downwards at a 90 degree angle forming a defined jaw line. A small oval depression is at the base of the jaw where it steps downwards.

Behind the ears the neck of the object curves in a C-shape towards the terminal. The neck is oval in cross section measuring 7mm thick. At the base of the neck is a semi-circular terminal which is stepped for attachment to the body of the vessel. The terminal is angled to allow it to sit flush against the vessel rim.

The object has a dark green patina which is pitted in places. Patches of blackened tarnished silvering appear to decorate each face of the object. Untarnished silvering is visible beneath the snout and on the internal side of the attachment terminal.

Dimensions:25mm in length, 12mm in width, 10mm thick, 11.7g.

Further examples of hanging bowl escutcheons which can be found on the PAS database include YORYM-975799, SUSS-F9E7AA and SWYOR-3D5807.

SWYOR-3D5807 notes that: This piece was originally one of a set of hooked-mounts, normally three, attached by their plates around the body of a circular copper-alloy bowl and fixed below the rim so that each hook projected above it. Each hook held a metal ring with a cord or strap attached used to hang the bowl from a central point. Hanging-bowls are specialised luxury vessels with Roman-period origins, and were made in the early medieval period only in Britain and later Ireland. They were much prized in the new Anglo-Saxon cultures of eastern Britain and included in furnished burials, contexts that date them to the mid- sixth and to mid-seventh century, although later types were made and found more widely distributed in the Viking period.

A published example can be found in Charles Peers and C. A. Ralegh Radford (1943). II.-The Saxon Monastery of Whitby. Archaeologia, 89, p51.