File:Early medieval bridle fitting (FindID 259572).jpg

English: A slightly corroded fragment from a late early-medieval/Anglo-Scandinavian cast copper-alloy cheekpiece (c. 11th century AD). The fragment is formed of a curved Ringerike style animal head and neck in profile, possibly a dragon or sea monster. The cheekpiece is flat and the neck is long and the head is set at roughly right angles to it. On the outer edge of the curve is a recessed trefoil-shaped protrusion. At the end of the head is a rounded knop, perhaps representing a horn. Below are two small lobed protrusions in a row. Relief decoration on the upper surface of the head turns the lower pair of lobes into a mouth. Above, there is further decoration around the snout/horn, with a broadly oval eye in relief behind. The recessed protrusion is perhaps a crest, with a relief outline and curved line demarking it from the rest of the head. The design of the head is comparable with beasts represented on contemporary stirrup-strap mounts (see Williams 1997, 10; fig. 6). The upper surface of the neck is decorated with a pair of longitudinal relief lines that diverge as the neck widens. The fragment is not readily classifiable using the relevant typology (Williams 2007), although comparable (decorated) cheekpiece fragments have been recorded on this database, particularly KENT-A4A477 (see also SF-656764 for a more degenerated version). By comparison with other cheekpieces it is supposed that this animal head would have projected on one side of the cheekpiece with a corresponding head on the other side. Where the necks join there would be a pierced hole, through which the bridle would be secured. The object measures 32mm x 26.8mm x 3.1mm and weighs 7.74g.