MEDIEVAL BADGE

1300

Incomplete lead pilgrim's badge in the form of the bust of St Thomas Becket. The badge is in good condition although only the head and the mitre survive.St Thomas is shown face-on wearing a mitre. The facial features are life-like in detail and form. St Thomas's face is shown has a somewhat stern expression and a penetrating stare. His eyes and eye-lids are represented by concentric pointed ovals and are set deeply below the arched eyebrow ridges. The mouth is narrow, extending only shortly beyond the width of the nose. Becket has a handle-bar moustache that extends down to the cleft in the chin. To either side of the head are feint traces of curly locks of hair.St Thomas wears a mitre which is highly decorated with bands of pellet-in-circles and rows of pellets. A horizontal band of pellet-in-circles runs across the the forehead. A vertical row of pellets runs up the central rib of the mitre. In each angle of the hat is a diagonal row of three pellets with a pellet-in-circle above and below. The apex is bent over to the reverse.The badge is broken at the neck. The reverse is undecorated and has a casting seam running vertically down the centre.This type of pilgrim badge is one of a well-known series of badges that are miniature copies of the life-sized enriched mitred-bust reliquary of St Thomas located in Canterbury Catherdral in the 14th century. The bust was adorned with many jewels, which are represented on this lead miniature by the series of moulded pellets. Offerings made at Canterbury Cathedral show that the popularity of the head reliquary peaked in 1420. Most pilgrim badges in the form of the head reliquary come from London and Canterbury, and so the presence of this early form in Lincolnshire is significant, although not surprising given the popularity of St Thomas. The badge would have been worn on the hat or on the outer clothing and would have been used as an amulet. The supposed miracle-working powers of reliquaries was also thought to transfer onto the objects copied from them, hence the popularity of pilgrim badges.A similar badge was found near Wragby, Lincolnshire, and is recorded on this database as LIN-D80A35.