VESSEL

Fragment of cast copper alloy early medieval hanging bowl mount. This fragment is subcircular in plan. The edges are chipped and worn, suggesting damage occurred in antiquity. The fragment is slightly convex. The curved front of the fragment is decorated with raised lines in the form of three chasing spirals, which probably represent the central design of the complete mount. The surface is very abraded, but it is just possible to see tiny traces of red enamel within the spirals of two of the three arms. Otherwise the patina to front and back is dark brown, with some patches of orange corrosion product. The fragment is 18.02mm in diameter, 2.02mm thick and weighs 2.23g. PAS record BH43FAD5 shows a complete, but differently decorated 7th century hanging bowl mount from Bedfordshire. Here, Susan Youngs comments that hanging bowls “were status household goods, originating from late Roman tableware and continuing during the Anglo-Saxon period. Later, but differing decorative forms are known in the Viking period. They are of non-Saxon manufacture but the country of their origin is still not determined. The object would have been one of four discs which would have adorned a hanging bowl”. Dr Kevin Leahy comments that the chasing spiral design recorded here is in keeping with these mounts. This design is also a common motif on saucer brooches of the 5th-7th century. This fragment of mount is therefore probably 6th or 7th century in date.