Bronze Flagon
Three medallions on the neck of the flagon may show mounted saints. |
Cast flagon of carinated form with a slightly convex base and a lid that is secured to the ornate handle by means of a chain. The handle is made separately and the upper part of the handle is secured to the neck by a plain band. The lower part of the handle is fastened by a second band, the central part of which has three embossed medallions of a figure, possibly a saint, on a horse that faces to the left; the ends taper to form wires that extended to the handle and were twisted round it (now damaged).
Vessels of this type were made at an unknown centre(s) the eastern Mediterranean between the 6th and 9th centuries. They were widely exported; similar finds are known from Persia, Turkestan, Tunisia, Germany and Sweden, the largest collection being from Sardis, near Corinth in Greece. This is the first example of its type from England.
