EARLY MEDIEVAL BRIDLE FITTING

1000

An elaborate cast copper alloy Anglo-Scandinavian cheek piece fragment, dating to the 11th century. The decoration on the fitting has been inspired by the characteristic 11th century style of engraving known as Ringerike-style. The design could represent a beast, with its nose at the apex as drawn. This design is very abstract and stylised. The object has been cast from one solid piece of copper alloy which has been decoratively moulded, again in an abstract and stylised pattern. The artefact comprises a plate of cooper alloy which is an irregular shape, roughly twice as long as it is wide. This plate forms the decorative terminal for the horse's bit. What has been interpreted as the upper part of the artefact survives intact; the lower section appears to have been broken, resulting in the lost of an unknown percentage of the plate. Section A (as drawn) would seem to imply that a large hole once existed on the plate, forming a loop - this section has now broken off. Presumably this hole would have formed a weakness in the structural integrity of the plate, causing it to wear thin and break. Extending outwards at a 90 ° angle from the main plate there is a D-shaped strip of copper alloy (see section C as drawn), it terminates with a typical lozenge shaped fitting, which would probably have held a strap. This element has an oval hole in the centre. The lozenge shaped loop has three rounded knops, on each of the terminating corners (see section B as drawn). The main plate has an odd asymmetric aperture in the bottom right hand corner, just up from the junction of where the lozenge shaped fitting extends from. This aperture would have once contained the iron bit, which would have gone through the horse's mouth. This iron bit no longer survives. This aperture would normally have been positioned in the centre of the plate. The reverse is undecorated and slightly pitted. The object is a dark jade-green colour. Much of the original surface survives in an extremely good condition, as the patina is smooth and shiny.Referred to in Williams (2007, 2)