MEDIEVAL MOUNT

1100

Damaged and incomplete Medieval gilded cast copper alloy mount. The mount would have originally been quatrefoil, with a central square section with four projecting arms; only two of the arms survive.The central section is square with a central raised section (hollowed on the reverse) which depicts a face, formed of two curved eyebrows which join together in the centre to form the upper part of the nose, with two circular pellets below representing nostrils. The eyes are oval. The mouth is formed of two lines which curve up towards the nose, and then are straight to either side - either representing two lips, or a mustache. The face is bordered by a flat square border, which has vertical lines above and below the face, and horizontal lines to the left and right. The lines above the head extend onto the face, possibly representing lines of hair. The detail of the face and the lines are all slightly raised from the surface, with all the gilding missing. There is a circular rivet hole at each corner of the border, two of which still contain separate rivets.The rivets are cylindrical with a slightly expanded terminal on the reverse of the mount to secure them in place. The upper side of the rivets, visible from the front of the mount are also cylindrical, with a waisted centre, making it biconical in profile. There are incised lines around the circumference of the rivets. The rivets have a flat, circular terminal which are decorated with a 'X' design.Two of the edges of the square panel (below and to the left of the face) have a projecting arm with expanded terminal; there are breaks on the remaining two edges presumably from other projections.The arm to the left of the face is decorated with vertical lines and the one below the face with horizontal lines. The terminals are trefoil, comprising of three semi-circular knops, with additional projections extending from the outer knops, which curve back towards the centre of the mount. The main area of the terminals has a geometric pattern of three chevrons within a pentagonal border, which mimics the general shape of the terminals.In its current condition, the mount is 38.81mm long, 38.84mm wide, 4.94mm deep across the central face, 2.41mm thick on the border and 1.39mm thick on the arms. The rivets are 17.58mm long, 3.31mm in diameter on the reverse of the mount, and has a maximum diameter of 7.48mm on the front of the mount. The mount weighs 13.41 grams.A significant amount of gilding survives on the face of the mount, in the recessed areas. The areas where the gilding is missing are now a dark red-brown in colour. The reverse of the mount is plain and undecorated, and is dark green-brown in colour.It is probably Medieval in date, from the 12th to 15th century. The gilding, the shape of the terminals on the projections, the domed centre and the style of engraving have medieval characteristics. The projections are similar to ones found on medieval buckle plates, for example Egan and Pritchard 1991 no. 608 (various PAS comparanda include HAMP1875, DOR-1E0744, SF10790 and SF-29EFD6). A similar mount to this example is NMS-D9FC11, although there are only two projections, no domed centre and no face, but still not far off. See also SUSS-CBF7E7, recorded as a book fitting.