POST MEDIEVAL PRICK SPUR

1600

A post-medieval copper-alloy fragment consisting of the neck and goad from a 17th-century prick spur. The goad is of elaborate quatrefoil shape as is conventional on these spurs, known as 'Scotch spurs' (Ellis 2002, 8-9; refs. 27, 28). The lobes of the quatrefoil are closed, rather than being openwork, as with ref. 28 quoted, ESS-DAC0C3 and NMGW-69B4FE recorded on this database. The lobes in the lateral plane are far more elegantly finished than the other pair. The neck is lozengiform compared to the base of the goad, and set at 45 degrees to it. It is decorated with fine transverse nicks along the edges, while the sides are all decorated with finely punched zigzags made of annulets, with a single annulet in each triangular field between them. The curved neck has become detached from the spur's sides as a result of old damage. This damage appears to be deliberate as the neck seems to be have been sawn through; a deep transverse groove slightly further up the neck appears to be a failed first attempt.The spur has a mid-/dark-green patina over a red/brown metal with some traces of tinning in the recesses of the quatrefoil. Such 'Scotch spurs' represented a revival of the prick spur in the 17th century, and are characterised by curved necks. The example quoted above (ref. 27) comes from the collection of the British Museum and can be seen on their online collections (ref. 1836,0901.52). Ellis (2002, 9) notes that a spur of this type can be seen on a portrait of William Style of Langley, Beckenham, Kent dated 1636. This can be viewed on the website of the Tate Gallery (ref. T02308).