Rights Holder: Durham County Council
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HARNESS PENDANT
Unique ID: DUR-1276F2
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Cast copper alloy enamelled Medieval harness pendant.
It is shield shaped with a circular attachment loop set perpendicular to the pendant at the top. The pendant's upper surface features moulded heraldic decoration in the form of three lions passant guardant arranged one above the other. The field is inlaid with red enamel and, although no trace survives of gilding, it is supposed that this is the typical English arms, 'Gules three lions passant guardant [Or]'.
Many such examples can be found illustrated in Ashley (2002, 10; e.g. ref. 50). The red-brown metal is indicative of heating for gilding; it features traces of off-white and light-green corrosion product in places. As Ashley (2002, 8) notes, even though the English arms are usually shown quartered with the French after 1340 AD this date cannot be used as a definite terminus ante quem and is therefore offered tentatively below.
HAMP-7C7246 is a very similar example already recorded on the PAS database.
Notes:
Arms: England
Class: heraldic
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1200
Date to: Circa AD 1340
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 43.57 mm
Width: 25.79 mm
Thickness: 2.79 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 1st May 2008
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with enamel
Spatial metadata
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber (European Region)County or Unitary authority: North Yorkshire (County)
District: Scarborough (District)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: TA0288
Four figure Latitude: 54.277477
Four figure longitude: -0.434975
1:25K map: TA0288
1:10K map: TA08NW
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1000 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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