MEDIEVAL HARNESS PENDANT

1100

An early harness pendant from the 12th - early 13th Century. This type of pendant was in use before coloured enamels and heraldry really took off. The harness pendant is copper-alloy with gilding on the obverse surface (only traces now survive). The pendant is roughly trapezoidal in shape. The suspension loop survives in situ but it has broken, it is extremely corroded as is the rest of the pendant. There is a decorative hole in the centre of the pendant. The obverse surface of the pendant is decorated with a parallel border, infilled with a rocker-arm style of engraving. The rest of the pendant is so worn that little detail can be seen. The reverse of the pendant is undecorated. The pendant is complete, but it is heavily worn. The metal has gone a mid-reddish brown, with traces of gilding in patches over the obverse surface. Similar explains can be seen in Ashley, 2002, pp6, Fig. 6 and Ottaway and Rogers, 2002, p2963, Fig: 1528.