Rights Holder: The Portable Antiquities Scheme
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Unique ID: IOW-A593BD
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A complete Late Early-Medieval (Anglo-Scandinavian) anthropomorphic mount in the form of a human male mask facing forwards (c. 1000 - c. 1100).
The mount is sub-triangular in plan. It is moulded and convex at the front and largely concave at the rear.
The hair is represented by curls either side of a central lobe at the top. The eyes are roughly almond shaped but one is more rounded then the other and they are not symmetrical. The nose is small and triangular and is a continuation of the eyebrows. The mouth is defined by a short horizontal groove. A striking feature of the mask is the prominent moustache which droops down at either side of the mouth and terminates with a large upturned curls extending beyond the cheeks. There were four separate rivets (or possibly pins), one through the central lobe at the top, one at each side, between eye and nose level and one through the lower lobe which may be a beard. The rear is plain.
This mount is in good condition and has a mid-green patina.
Length: 32.1mm; width: 29.4mm; thickness: 8.4mm. Weight: 15.94g.
A similar mount from Brighstone parish, Isle of Wight (IOW-4FA904) was commented on by Mr Barry Ager:
"Although it is not itself a stirrup-strap mount, the closest parallel I can suggest for the mount's projecting brows, prominent chin and curling moustache are the stirrup-strap mounts depicting human masks of David Williams's Class A, type 9 (D. Williams, 1997, Late Saxon Stirrup-Strap Mounts: a classification and catalogue, CBA Research Report 111, 51-3, fig. 35; his distribution map in fig. 13 shows four occurrences in Hampshire, as well as elsewhere in southern England, with seventeen examples recorded in all). They date to the first half of the 11th century and possibly into the second half, though mainly belong to the period of Danish rule in England, so I think the Brighstone mount could be similarly dated on stylistic grounds. The connection with horse-riding equipment, the decoration and the curved back also suggest a possible, though not entirely certain, identification of the mount with the type of face-mask mounts on the Danish harness-bow from Søllested. The bow is wooden and arched in section, with a decorative metal crest in the Viking Jellinge Style, combined with elements of the Mammen Style, that is perforated for the reins to pass through from the driver of a wagon; the harness-bow would have been strapped across the horse's back (it is illustrated in D.M. Wilson and O. Klindt-Jensen, Viking Art, London, pl. 37, with one of the damaged mask mounts shown in pl. 37d; these mounts appear if anything more clearly in a 19th-century engraving reproduced in the article by A. Pedersen, "Søllested - nye oplysninger om et velkendt fund", Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1996, pp. 37-111, fig. 2, with an English summary). It dates to the late 10th century, so it is a little earlier than Brighstone, and I am not aware of surviving examples of harness-bows of the 11th century, but it is conceivable that the form could have continued in use into this later period. The curvature of the mount would certainly suit it for fitting as one of a series to the side of such an artefact, although it is more substantial than the Danish examples, which are also differently fixed with small pins round the edges".
A comparable mount has been recorded from the East Riding of Yorkshire: YORYM-5C08E5.
Williams, D, 1997. Late Saxon Stirrup - Strap - Mounts: A Classification and Catalogue. Council for British Archaeology.
Current location of find: Finder
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Late
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Ascribed Culture:
Anglo-Scandinavian style
Date from: Circa AD 1000
Date to: Circa AD 1100
Quantity: 1
Length: 32.1 mm
Width: 29.4 mm
Thickness: 8.4 mm
Weight: 15.94 g
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 6th June 2018 - Wednesday 6th June 2018
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Other reference: IOW2018-1-193
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
No references cited so far.