Badge or Harness Pendant
Unknown Artist
14th century
Medium
Copper, gold, enamel
Dimensions
H. 2 7/16 in. (6.2 cm); W. 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm); Wt. 1 oz. (28.3 g)
Classification
Miscellaneous-Badges
Culture
Spanish
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1904
Accession Number
04.3.442
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 14th-century Spanish or harness pendant, crafted copper gilded with gold and enriched with enamel, measures just 2 7/16 inches high testament to the medieval artisan's skill in creating intricate finery on a small scale. Likely worn as a personal emblem or affixed to a horse's harness, it features delicate angels flanking a coat of arms, of divine protection and noble identity. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Arms and Armor Department, it evokes the chivalric world of knights and tournaments. In medieval Spain, amid the Reconquista's fervor, such badges served practi...