Abstract
British Hanging Bowls.In Antiquity for June, Mr. T. E. Kendrick has published a study of the hanging bowls of bronze with special reference to their position in the cultural history of Britain. Hanging bowls, already known in Britain in La Tne times, returned into fashion in the second half of the Roman period. An approximate date of A.D. 400 is suggested for the hiding of a hoard found at the Romano-British settlement at Irchester. The most decorative bowls are those fitted with escutcheons in the form of enamelled discs. They may be grouped under three sub-headings: (i.) The ‘Romanising’ series; (ii.) the ‘ultimate La Tne’ series; and (iii.) the ‘developed trumpetpattern’ series. In the Romanising series, the escutcheons show the inspiration of classical ornament and come down possibly to a date not later than 500 B.C. The ‘ultimate La Tne’ series is the work of craftsmen who were still resolutely Celtic, and had no sympathy with Roman and contemporary continental design: They represent the continuation of the native enamel work of the north. The Barlaston bowl and the Northumberland escutcheons, which belong to this class, cannot be later than A.D. 300. The contrast with class iii., the ‘developed trumpet-pattern’ series, is very striking. Here the work is primarily concerned with the modifications of the late Roman pelta trumpet-patterns, which are transformed with all the grace of the British artist. These decorative designs later became the stock-in-trade of the illuminator; and it is suggested that they are not the renaissance of an ancient Celtic art, but an independent Celtic experiment which developed a borrowing from late Roman art. Although the bowls are for the most part found in Saxon graves, they were loot; and the Saxons probably contributed nothing to their manufacture.
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Research Items. Nature 130, 27–29 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130027a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130027a0
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