Harness fittings (?), cast, engraved, and gilt bronze
Sicily or Spain; 12th century
H: 8.5; L: 11.2 cm
Inventory number 21/1977
We know very little about this quite attractive gilt-bronze fitting cast in one piece, with two pinecone-like pendants and a pendant in the form of an animal head. Its use is uncertain, but the flat backs have four flat bands placed in such a way that they might fit a horse’s halter.
There are pendants to the motifs of the lion with raised paws and the eagle with wings spread in Spanish and Sicilian art from the 11th to the early 13th century. The rather stiff combination of Islamic and European features does, however, seem to fit in best with the Sicilian sphere under the Norman Hautevilles or the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
There are pendants to the motifs of the lion with raised paws and the eagle with wings spread in Spanish and Sicilian art from the 11th to the early 13th century. The rather stiff combination of Islamic and European features does, however, seem to fit in best with the Sicilian sphere under the Norman Hautevilles or the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
