POST MEDIEVAL PENDANT

Unknown artist

A Post Medieval copper alloy pendant c.1650-1700 AD. The pendant is oval in plan and convex in cross section. A circular susspension loop protrudes from the top edge and a round lugs protrude from one edge and the base. One side has a high-relief portrait of a male figure, possibly Charles I facing right. The figurehas long wavy hair, a pointed beard and is wearing a ruffled collar Around the bust there is a legend, that is now illegible. The other side has an apparently female bust in high-relief facing left.Dr Dora Thornton, Curator of Renaissance Collections at the British Museum suggests that this is a well-known type dating to the Civil War period. Some examples (eg TAR 2003, no. 274) with ownership initials or arms, suggesting that these pendants were worn to show Royalist allegiance. The portraits are from Medallic Illustrations, I, p. 357, 223 and p. 348, 203.