EARLY MEDIEVAL BRIDLE FITTING

1000

A fragment of a copper-alloy cheekpiece of 11th century AD date. The piece is decorated in the Ringerike style, which is of Norwegian origin. The original form of the cheekpiece is unclear, the object having been broken off at one end. The surviving fragment is irregular in plan. One of the longer sides has two flat edges which angle slightly upwards and meet at the point of two small lobes. The other long edge has a series of moulded lobes of different sizes. The piece is of an openwork design, with a large sub-circular hole near the centre, a small adjacent hole and two more small holes at one end. The incised pattern in the upper surface is of typical Ringerike style, comprising a series of ropework straight lines and swirls which respect the holes and compliment the moulded edges. The reverse of the piece is flat and plain. The object measures 46mm long, 32.8mm wide and 3.8mm thick. The weight is 22.31g.It is similar to an example illustrated in Pedersen (1998, 135; fig. 4g), from Bornholm; the minor perforations are absent in the Danish example but the engraving is similar.