File:Cheek piece (FindID 80923).jpg

English: A cast copper-alloy harness link, these links tend to date from the 11th century, but recent finds on archaeological sites have suggested that these cheekpieces could be 11th - 13th century in date (see Ottaway and Rogers 2002, 2959; fig. 1524.13049 and 14122).

The cheekpiece comprises three main sections, from left to right, there is a circular hoop, which has three large rounded knop terminals, which almost give the loop a lozenge shape. There is a hole in the cast, which could be a casting bubble, on the lower half of the hoop. Attached to this loop is a small strip of copper alloy, with a D-shaped section, which attaches the loop to the decorative moulding. The D-shaped strip is undecorated. The decorative moulding is in the shape of a cats heads and depicts a cats ears, fur, eyes, nose and mouth. All of the cat's features are well defined. There does appear to be a mark on the opposite side of the cat heads to were the copper alloy strip has been cast. This could indicate that something else was attached to the cheekpiece. The reverse is undecorated but two more holes (possible casting bubbles) are evident on the reverse of the loop (on the upper half). These bubbles indicate that at this point the casting is hollow. The reverse of the cat's head is concave. The cheekpiece is 15.02mm in length. The cat's head is approximately 16.7mm x 19.7mm x 8.6mm. The attachment strip is about 9.2mm long. The lozenge shaped loop is 21.6mm x 21.8mm x 4.1mm. The metal is a mid greenish-brown colour. Most of the original surface appears to have been lost, as the surface is quite patchy and flaky.