MOUNT

A medieval, copper alloy figure of a winged ox or bull, with nimbus. The ox is hown in profile to the right, with his head turned to look back over his body. Capping the head is a neat hairline depicted by incised lines. The left horn rises from the top; the right horn is missing. His eye is a pointed oval, and his nostrils are depicted by two recessed pointed oval cells. The left eye is not shown, but a curved line representing the upper part of the eye socket is visible when the mount is seen side-on. A pair of wings rise from his back. It is carefully feathered, with the detail defined by incised lines. The body is muscular, and four vertical grooves emphasis the ribs of the animal. A circular rivet hole pierces the body in the centre at the top of the ribs. A scroll wraps between his hind legs below. It begins behind his right hind leg, and is held down by his right hoof at the front. The scroll extends vertically at is held by his left hoof, which is raised up to his head. Around two-thirds of the scroll along the base is now broken and presently facing fowards. The scroll is decorated with a twig-like punctuation at the far left hand side, following which is the word 'LVCA', executed in black letter. The entire front of the mount has been gilded, though patches of copper corrosion are now visible. The back of mount is flat, but traces of gilding survive, although in a much more degraded and patchty form.

The ox/bull represents St Luke the Evangelist. St Luke is often represented as an ox in Christian iconography and this striking image probably came from a crucifix, onto which the representations of Matthew, Mark, and John were also added.

The length of the mount is 53mm. The height is 53mm. It is 13mm thick at the head. The mass 75.34g