E
Medieval questrian
Pendants
12 th − 15th century
Peter Finer ESTABLISHED
1967
Peter Finer ESTABLISHED Fine
Antique
Arms,
Armour
1967 & Related Objects
38 − 39 Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6DF Tel +44 (0) 20 7839 5666
www.peterfiner.com gallery@peterfiner.com
Medieval Equestrian Pendants 12 − 15th century Heraldic pendants and badges are thought to have first adorned the leather horse trappings of knights, nobility and clergymen in the early twelfth century. These fairly modestly fabricated − stamped and engraved, sometimes silvered or gilt − medals served to both ornament and identify the mount's rider.
By the thirteenth century, and now haute mode, equestrian pendants exhibited more accomplished artistry and refinement; the fashion for them would continue, mostly in Western Europe, for the next two hundred years. Intricately cast and chased badges were in these centuries inset with brightly coloured enamel and beautified with gold, as illustrated by one of this catalogue’s most superb examples, no. 5. It bears the Royal Arms of a united Castile and Leon and retains nearly all of its original silver and gilt and vibrant lapis blue and red enamel.
These pendants were usually produced of copper alloy and decorated with Champlevé, an enamelling technique in which troughs or cells were carved, etched, die struck or cast into the surface of the metal, and then filled with vitreous enamel. The piece would then be fired in an oven or kiln until the enamel fused. When cool, the pendant or badge would be polished.
An Aquamanile of a mounted English knight, his horse seen decorated by equestrian harness pendants. French. 14th century. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. The 1890 photo by Alinari, © Alinari Archives, Florence
Customarily on a suspension loop, these pendants could be shield, lozenge, roundel or square shaped, a trefoil, quatrefoil or hexafoil.
The pendants and badges that survive today provide an elaborate medieval lexicon of symbols, mottos and heraldic devices, which held particular meaning for their medieval owners. Some significances are familiar to us today: cat. no. 1 bears the unique arms of the Infant d'Aragon Prince Ramón Berenguer (1308 – 1366), a knight who fought to preserve his kingdom in Spain in the fourteenth century. Though many of the pendants are heraldic, some of those devises remain mysterious to scholars today.
This worthy churchman rode upon a well−fed, ambling mule, whose furniture was highly decorated… − Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
People took to wearing little golden bells on their belts‌ and the horses wore hundreds of medals, engraved or enamelled with images and emblems, every one of which is now a museum pieces. − E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting
The Trinity Apocalypse, circa 1350, Trinity College Library, Cambridge. @The Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
Some pendants were pious in nature, such as catalogue no. 15, which displays the Lombardic M for Maria, a plea for her protection. A number of pendants contain medieval symbols of virtues, for example a collared dog on catalogue no. 21. Though a symbol of fidelity, the dog equally represented a fondness for the hunt. We cannot say unilaterally what the badge meant to its 14th century owner. Other pendants hold mottos in schematic Gothic letters, such as no. 13, which reads Amo Amar below a lion mask. I Love to Love.
A good number of the pendants here were first assembled by the renowned connoisseur Gustave Dreyfus (1837 - 1914). Dreyfus, like his friend and colleague Charles Ephrussi, was a prolific collector of works of art in late nineteenth century Paris; the collection included the 'Dreyfus Madonna' which now resides in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA. Dreyfus was an art historian and author, and a knight of the
Legion d’Honneur, many of whose paintings were bought by Joseph Duveen in 1930 and sold by him to American industrialists. A particularly exquisite pendant that belonged to Dreyfus is catalogue no. 24, which shows a Lady with her bird of prey on her arm, beside her chained swan.
One can see how pendants hung on an equestrian harness in several rare extant medieval sources. Illuminated manuscripts, such as the Trinity
Apocalypse (c. 1250), a period French Aquamanile today in Florence, and the remarkable Hereford Mappa Mundi (c. 1300) all illustrate to a contemporary viewer how these pendants were worn, seven hundred years later.
Redmond, Roland and Peter Finer
1
A Large Harness Pendant or Recognition Badge bearing the arms of Prince Ramón Berenguer of Aragon 14th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 10.2 x 7 cm / 4 x 2.75 in Provenance
The Dacre Kenrick Edwards Esq. Collection; Christie, Mason and Woods, Ltd. April 26, 1961, Lot 83; Private collection, France This badge bears the personal arms of the Infant Ramón Berenguer (1308 – 1366), Prince of Aragon, Count of Prades and of Ampurias and Baron of Entenza. The youngest son of King Jaime II of Aragon (1267 – 1327) and his Queen consort Blanche of Anjou (1280 – 1310), Ramón Berenguer’s arms, a quartered shield, consist of the royal arms of each house. As a knight he fought in the service of his father and later nephew, King Pedro of Aragon, for whom Ramón quelled Valencia’s revolt. Upon the death of his second wife, Doña Maria Álvarez de Jérica, Ramón Berenguer d’Aragon took the cloth, in a monastery in Barcelona. He was buried beside his wife in the convent of Santa Catalina in that city; the convent was demolished in 1835, which destroyed the prince’s effigy.
2
Harness Pendant 12th − 14th century England. Copper alloy and enamel. 4.2 x 3.4 cm / 1.6 x 1.3 in Provenance
Private collection, United Kingdom This trefoil pendant shows a lion rampant.
3
Harness Pendant 14th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold, silver and enamel. 7.1 x 5.6 cm / 2.8 x 2.2 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants This pendant bears a coat-of-arms surmounted by a crown, inside a relief rosette border.
4
Harness Pendant 14th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold, silver and enamel. 5.4 x 5 cm / 2.1 x 1.9 in Provenance Bernard Hearn, London, 1983; London Art Trade This splendidly detailed pendant displays a crowned lion mask−in−splendour.
5
Harness Pendant 14th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold, silver and enamel. 7.7 x 6.7 cm / 3 x 2.6 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants The central figure on this pendant likely represents King Ferdinand III of Castile; the shield that he holds contains the united arms of Castile and of Leon, which he was the first to use. Ferdinand III (1199 or 1201 – 1252), called el Santo, the Saint, was King of Castile from 1217 and became King of Leon in 1230, and King of Galicia the following year. The son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile, Ferdinand was one of the most successful rulers of his day: he not only cemented a permanent union between Castile and León, but masterminded the most expansive campaign of reconquista of the century. Through military and diplomatic efforts, Ferdinand greatly expanded the dominions of Castile into southern Spain, annexing many of the great old cities of al-Andalus, including the capitals of Córdoba and Seville. His labours established the boundaries of the Castilian state for the next two centuries.
6
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6.5 x 5.3 cm / 2.6 x 2 in
Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants This pendant bears a crowned lion mask.
7
Harness Pendant
13 − 14th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6 x 4.3 cm / 2.4 x 1.7 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants
This displays a shield with the emblem of a crowned human mask, likely representing a king.
8
Harness Pendant
13 − 14th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6 x 5 cm / 2.3 x 2 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants
This pendant shows a lion mask encircled by a wreath.
9
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 5.8 x 4.5 cm / 2.3 x 1.8 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (18811942); his descendants This pendant, in the form of a quatrefoil, is decorated with leaves that encloses a flower-head roundel.
10
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, traces of gold and enamel. 6.3 x 4.5 cm / 2.5 x 2 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants A hexafoil pendant decorated with a robed griffin.
11
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century Spain. Copper alloy and enamel. 6.5 x 5 cm / 2.5 x 2 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom
Stylized birds single flank a single scallop shell at the centre of this pendant, a symbol of St. James and of pilgrimage, particularly the camino
de Santiago de Compostela. This pilgrimage to the believed relics of St James originated in the 9th century and concludes in the cathedral of the ancient north-western Spanish city.
12
Harness Pendant 13 − 14th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6.2 x 4.9 cm / 2.4 x 1.9 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants Decorated with a popular medieval symbol, the Tree of Life, this pendant’s banner incorporates an unknown inscription.
13
Harness Pendant 14 − 15th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold, and enamel. 6.8 x 4.3 cm / 2.7 x 1.7 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom This pendant takes the form of a crowned lion mask; below the animal an inscribed band reads the Spanish words Amo Amar, in English I love to
love.
14
Harness Pendant 14 − 15th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold, and enamel. 5.7 x 5.2 cm / 2.2 x 2 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants A half-angel smiles above a coat-of-arms, the shield buttressed by lions decorates this badge.
15
Harness Pendant 14 − 15th century Spain. Copper alloy and enamel. 9.2 x 7.2 cm / 3.6 x 2.8 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants The Lombardic M at the centre of this pendant is crowned, a reference in medieval Europe to the queen of heaven, Mary; a pair of lions in profile hold the crown aloft. Yet the pendant’s most striking feature is its green and white enamelled scalloped edge. Each of these lobe contains a stylised dove.
16
A Pendant 12 − 14th century England. Copper alloy and enamel. 5.7 x 8.7 cm / 2.2 x 3.4 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom This pendant consists of a decorative bar and suspended shield; it bears an opened−mouth heraldic lion rampant.
17
Three Pendants for Horse Trappings
These pendants were likely used on straps and their designs are
14th century England. Copper alloy and enamel. 4.2 x 3.2 cm / 1.6 x 1.25 in 4.3 x 3.3 cm / 1.7 x 1.3 in 4.3 x 3.4 cm / 1.7 x 1.3 in
not strictly heraldic, but combine the lion from the English
Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom
royal arms.
royal arms with the fleurs-de-lis of the French. The inclusion of the fleurs-de-lis on the pendants suggests they date after 1340, when King Edward III incorporated the device into the English
18
A Harness Banner and Two Pendants 13 − 14th century. England. Copper alloy and enamel. 4.1 x 2.7 cm / 1.6 x 1 in 4.1 x 3.2 cm / 1.6 x 1.25 in 4.5 x 2.9 cm / 1.8 x 1.1 in
Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom The rectangular banner here bears three lions passant, the Royal Arms of England. The two pendants represent the arms of the Duke of Lancaster, probably Henry (1299-1361), a direct descendant of Henry III of England.
19
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century England. Copper alloy and enamel. 8.2 x 7.4 cm / 3.2 x 2.9 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom Displaying a bird chained to a letter P, this likely depicts the De Bohun family swan. An inscription is engraved into the tree behind. After the marriage in 1380 of Mary de Bohun (d. 1394) to the Lancastrian Henry Bolingbroke, the future King Henry IV (1399– 1413), adopted the swan for the royal House of Lancaster, which continued to use it for over a century. The swan gorged and chained
with a crown or is especially associated with Lancastrian use and echoed the white hart similarly gorged and chained used by King Richard II (1377–1399), who Henry Bolingbroke deposed.
20
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century England. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 8.2 x 6.3 cm / 3.2 x 2.5 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom This suspended roundel is decorated with a stork with outstretched wings. In medieval Europe the stork, and similarly the ibis, was a Christian symbol of the virtues piety, purity and vigilance, as well as a representation of rebirth and the harbinger of Spring.
21
Two Harness Pendants with gilt cross−hatched backgrounds 13 − 14th century England. Copper alloy and enamel. 9.3 x 6.7 cm / 3.6 x 2.6 in 11.7 x 6.4 cm / 4.6 x 2.5 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom Although not a pair, these two large suspended pendants were clearly produced in the same workshop if not by the same hand, and likely belonged to the same equestrian equipment. A large, elegantly collared dog sits alert at the centre of one badge, while a collared cockerel stands erect on the other. The animals most likely referenced their possessor’s penchant for the hunt and sport.
22
Harness Badge 14th century England. Copper alloy, traces of gold and enamel. 8.7 x 8.8 cm / 3.4 x 3.5 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom This pendant holds three scallop shells, the arms of the Dacre Family. Three dragons surround the shield. A similar example is preserved in the Museum of London.
23
Badge 14 − 16th century England. Bronze and gold. 6.1. x 4.8 cm / 2.4 x 1.9 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom The peacock which forms this badge was used principally by the Manners family, who inherited the emblem from the De Ros family, Lord Roos. The Manners family are the Dukes of Rutland, and this peacock is possibly a livery badge inscribed E PASS.
24
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century England. Copper alloy, traces of gold and enamel. 8 x 6.8 cm / 3.1 x 2.7 in
Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (18811942); his descendants
This Pendant shows a Lady with a bird-of-prey on her arm beside a chained swan. Engraved into the tree at centre is an undeciphered inscription. It is likely the swan badge of the De Bohun family adopted by Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (1399 – 1413), of the royal House of Lancaster The swan
gorged and chained with a crown or was a similar emblem to that used by his predecessor King Richard II (1377 – 1399).
25
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century Probably England. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 9 x 7.6 cm / 3.5 x 3 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); His son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); His descendants The roundel contains undulating tendrils that frame a pelican
displayed. In medieval Christianity the pelican was believed so self-sacrificing as to wound her own breast to feed the blood to her young when no other food was available to them. Mirroring the Eucharist, this came to represent the Passion of Christ in Christian Europe. In England, Elizabeth I cleverly adopted the device of the Pelican, portraying herself as the ‘Mother of the Church of England.’
26
Ha r nes s Penda nt 1 3 − 1 5 t h centu r y Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 8.4 cm / 3.3 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom This fretwork roundel probably carrying the arms of Castile at its centre, and is decorated with eight gold dragons around its edge.
27
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 8.8 x 7.1 cm / 3.5 x 2.8 in Provenance Private collection, France The shield here depicts four red bars or palets on a gold background, the Royal arms of the Kingdom of Aragon.
28
Harness Pendant 12 − 14th century Spain. Copper alloy. 8.6 x 4.7 cm / 3.4 x 1.8 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942); his descendants This unusual pendant shows a dragon medallion with lion masks above and below it.
29
Harness Pendant 13 − 15th century England. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6.8 x 5.7 cm / 2.7 x 2.25 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom A roundel holds the stylised Gothic letters R and L, on a ground of scrolling fronds.
30
Horse Pendant 13 − 15th century Probably Spain. Copper alloy, traces of gold and enamel. 7 x 5.6 cm / 2.7 x 2.2 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); his son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (18811942); his descendants The Gothic letters S and L entwine on this pendant, within an eight-pointed concave frame, encircled by alternating flowers and leaves.
31
Horse Pendant 13 − 14th century England. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6.1 x 4.2 cm / 2.4 x 1.6 in Provenance Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914); His son Carl Dreyfus; Seymour de Ricci (18811942); His descendants A lobated Green Man mask medallion. Medieval carvings of the Green Man took many forms, naturalistic or decorative. The simplest depict a man's face peering out of dense foliage. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men, though they harkened pagan vegetal deities, were frequently found in both secular and ecclesiastical carvings.
32
Horse Pendant 13 − 14th century England. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 6.7 x 5 cm / 2.6 x 2 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom The stylised gothic letter A sits here on a foliate field.
33
Horse Pendant 12 − 14th century England. Copper alloy and gold 6.8 x 5.5 cm / 2.8 x 2.2 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom A cruciform arrangement of four gold shields, each containing a lion rampant.
34
Harness Pendant 13 − 14th century Granada, Spain. Copper alloy, gold and enamel. 5.4 x 4.8 cm / 2.1 x 1.9 in Provenance Paul Munro of Bournemouth; Brian Grover, circa 1985 On this likely Nasrid pendant an unidentified inscription frames the bust of a man in architecture reminiscent of the domes of Granada’s Great Mosques and Mozarabic churches. The Nasrid dynasty was the last Arab Muslim dynasty in Iberia, ruling the Emirate of Granada from 1230 until 1492. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 and twenty-three emirs ruled Granada from the founding of the dynasty in 1230 by Mohammed I ibn Nasr until 1492, when Muhammad XII surrendered to the Christian Spanish kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Today, the most visible evidence of the Nasrids is the Alhambra palace complex built under their rule.
Above: front and back Opposite: side view
35
A Da gger Pommel 13 − 14th century Probably France. Bronze and enamel. 3.4 cm / 1.3 in Provenance Gallerie Rhea, Zurich. Switzerland. Formed with a kidney-shaped void, this enamelled pommel bears an unidentified coat-of-arms at its base. The sides contain an heraldic lion with the head of a crowned and bearded king.
36
Ha r nes s Di v i der , or S wor d Bel t F i tti ng 13 − 14th century Spain. Copper alloy and gold. 5.3 x 5.7 cm / 2 x 2.2 in Provenance Paul Munro Walker, Bournemouth, 1979; London Art Trade
Decorated with pseudo−Arabic writing embellishment.
37
A Na s r i d B el t Ter mi na l 14 − 15th century Granada, Spain. Bronze and gold 4 x 4.3 cm / 1.6 x 1.7 in Provenance Private collection, United Kingdom
38
A Bel t Ter mi na l Mid−14 − 15th century Probably France. Bronze 3 x 6.2 cm / 1.2 x 2.4 in
The first of two rectangular panels that comprise this terminal is decorated with a spray of acanthus leaves. The flowering plant symbolized the resurrection of Christ and the concept of immortality in medieval Christendom. The right-hand panel is embellished by a single Gothic letter P. A relief animal mask and
Provenance Private collection, France
its extended tongue form the loop of the piece.
Peter Finer ESTABLISHED 1967