MEDIEVAL LOCKET

1450

A medieval gold locket in the form of a miniature padlock. The padlock appears to be made in two pieces, the outer casing, and the bar across the top which is attached to one of the side panels. A U-shaped slot in the opposite side panel was designed to take the key, which does not survive. Single suspension loops on either side of the padlock each hold a gold link: the padlock was probably originally used to fasten two ends of a chain. The base is decorated with cusping which terminates at each end with a fleur-de-lys, one of which has lost a petal; the other has become slightly detached from the casing. A small area of damage in one corner of the padlock has pierced the casing. Each side of the padlock is decorated with an engraved panel containing a scroll which bears the black letter inscription, on one side, 'cauns [?]' and on the other side, 'repentir'. This may be read as 'sauns (ie sans) repentir', perhaps meaning 'without regret, or repentence', and may have been an amatory phrase. The upper corners are each decorated with small, five-lobed flowers. The locket may originally have been enamelled, although no trace of this now survives. The Newark padlock is closely comparable to the padlock from the Fishpool hoard, found in 1966 in Fishpool, Nottinghamshire, now in the British Museum. The Fishpool padlock is slightly larger, with three further loops for the suspension of pendants, and with an inscription ('de tout mon cuer') engraved amid floral sprays on either side of the casing. The Fishpool hoard is thought to have been deposited in May 1464, perhaps as a result of upheaval during the Wars of the Roses, either before or after the Battle of Hexham. This locket is probably of a similar date and manufacture. For the Fishpool hoard, see J. Cherry, 'The Medieval Jewellery from the Fishpool, Nottinghamshire, Hoard', Archaeologia 104 (1973), 307-321. Dimensions: Length, including cusping: 12.5mm Width, including suspension rings: 18mm.