390 (16)

363

Cased Mirrors

Sheet discs with repousse decoration

These are probably parts of composite mirrors, which would not necessarily have been hinged. An altemative possibility, that they are prints from mazer bowls, seems unlikely in view of similarity of design between no. 1718 and ivory mirrors, and the coating (similar to that on defi-nite mirrors) on its back. The place of manufac-ture of the two objects described below is not known.

Copper alloy

1717    BWB83 197 (308) 11 fig 241

Disc not quite complete; d 44.5mm; brass (AML); decoration:- bird advancing to right, down-tumed crescent above, all within a raised circle, (the remain-ing elements are symmetrical) central fleshy-leaved plant (cf acanthus) with tripartite motif at top, two opposed bipeds (?birds) with duck-like heads and long tails, which tum into a scrolled plant motif and shared central fleur de lis below, cling to the outside of the raised circle, as if contemplating devouring the plant which lies between them; the disc has a beaded border; two holes for rivets survive near the edge.

The decoration was probably hammered up against a die-block. The style would have been archaic in the 14th century and indicates that this object was probably madę in the 13th; it may have been an heirloom, or residual in the context in which it was found.

The brass bowls, produced in great numbers in Nuremberg in Germany and in the area of Dinant in present-day Belgium in the late-medieval period, and used for display in the home (Haedeke 1970, 78-79), are probably the best-known items decorated by this techniąue; further research is needed before the origin of the present disc can be suggested.

Silver

1718    BWB83 4499 (unstratified - found in an area with a preponderance of late 14th century items) fig 242 & colour pl 12C

Fragment; silver gilt (AML/MLC); weight 3.08 grammes; decoration:- hind ąuarters of a stallion probably depicted at a walk, with part of the (?)long outer garment of the rider; above and below is stylised foliage with fleshy voluted trefoils and buds or berries growing from a sinuous stem, and a five-petalled flower; the back has a black, shiny coating that is visually similar to the galena (lead sulphide) identified on a mirror like nos. 1714 etc above, which was found in Essex (Bayley et al. 1984, 399). This coating may have been intended to provide a dark foil against which the image on the reflecting surface would have been enhanced. The fragment also has two pierced rec-tangular holes and a running groove close to the surviving part of the irregularly cut, rounded edge. Assuming that the complete object was originally circu-lar, the diameter would have been c.80mm or just over.

By contrast with the preceding item, the crisper decoration here was probably raised by hand. Although too little survives to be certain of the complete design on this accomplished, very high ąuality piece, a broad comparison may be madę with the hunting scenes on some mirror cases of ivory (eg Dalton 1909, 129 & pl LXXXVIII nos. 377-79: no. 378, acc. no. 1856, 6-23, 102 - see fig 242, this volume - is of a similar diameter to that suggested for the present fragment; see also Natanson 1951, nos. 43-45, dated to c. 1320-40). A copper-alloy case decorated with a lizard (Metropolitan Museum, Cloisters collection, New York, acc. no. 47.101.47) is a rare survival of a complete, high-quality mirror from the medieval period.

The movement of the horse is morę vividly depicted on the present fragment than on any of the comparable ivory cases. The style suggests an early 14th-century datę, and though the ivory parallels have been credited with a Continental origin, there is no reason why the present precious-metal one may not be from an English workshop (RW Lightbown, pers. comm.). The style is very similar to that on a smaller silver-gilt mazer print (d c.55mm) which depicts a lion attacking a bird-like creature against a background of foliate motifs (St John Hope 1887, 138 fig 1).

The holes near the edges of the above two objects were presumably for rivets. Until a morę complete parallel for this suggested category of mirror case is found, the identification cannot be regarded as certain.

The blacking on the back of no. 1718 is visually similar to that on the back of a lead-alloy leaf found attached to an annular frame (no. 1374, d 88mm, described under Brooches); the object has no definite connection with mirrors - the evidence sugge sting that there was a pin is a strong argument that it was an unusual kind of brooch. The possibility that it is from some kind of standing mirror may, however, be streng-thened by evidence from futurę finds.