SCABBARD 622084

Description: A Late Early-Medieval to Early Medieval (c.1000-1200) copper-alloy chape from the end of a scabbard. The chape is triangular in shape with a broken projection extending from one corner, and made from one piece of copper-alloy folded in half leaving one side open and an opening at the top (the projection extends from the corner between these two open sides). Both faces of the chape are decorated with a pair of lines of punched dots, following a concave line on the (straight) folded edge and otherwise flanking the lines of the edges (which are straight). The folded edge is decorated with three vertically arranged grooved X shapes. In the corner below the projection is an in situ copper alloy rivet, now rather corroded and visible on both faces, 2.3mm in diameter. The top edge is a little damaged at its curved end. The remains of the projection, where it extends, are c.4mm in length and D-shaped in cross-section (3.4x2.1mm). The break is not too worn. Both faces of the projection are decorated with two diagonal grooves. The gap between each face is max.4.07mm (at the folded end) and narrowing to min.1.70mm (at the open end). Overall the chape measures 22.56mm in length, 16.37mm in max.width, 6.31mm in max.depth and weighs 3.79g. Chapes of this date are typically decorated with openwork depicting a horse and rider (de Reuck 1991), good examples of which are BH-96B701 and SUSS-6E6496. This is however a more simply decorated example similar to DUR-7DA853, NMS-C10B77 and SOM-089B62 (although these all have openwork decoration). Reference: de Reuck, A, 1991; Dating sword chapes, privately circulated

Date: 1000 - 1200

Object type: SCABBARD

Last import: August 15, 2017