Item ref: 672
Private collection, UK
Private collection, USA
Literature:
Finlay, M., ‘Medieval Harness Pendants’, The Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, Vol. VI (June 1998), pp. 25-31, illustrating this pendant on the cover of this Journal
In cast copper alloy with the remains of fire-gilt and champ-levé enamel, the two-piece pendant here comprises a rectangular upper piece, pierced with four holes for attachment (two on either side within a dotted, double lined border) and a centre of the piece which bears, within a wavy gilt border, the heraldic device of a lion passant guardant upon the remains of a green enamel field. The edges of the lion are heightened with a line of gilding, and suspended, through two loops formed of a split and lapped-back tongue of copper alloy at centre base. The lower piece is fitted with a single loop at centre top through which passes a copper pin to attach the two pieces; the shield-shaped lower piece has a dotted, double-lined border enclosing a shield charged with a tower or castle and, in chief, a lion passant guardant, the field of the shield bearing the remains of red enamel and that of the chief green enamel, the edges of the lion and tower heightened with a line of gilding and the base of the shield pierced with a dome-headed rivet retaining a portion of leather on the reverse.