File:Mount of De Valence family (FindID 920415-1029628).jpg

English: A worn medieval copper alloy heraldic mount, dating to the medieval period, probably dating c.AD 1247-1377.

Description: The mount is shield-shaped, with a square top tapering to a point below, with slightly convex sides. The shield is in good condition with the heraldic motif of 'barry of twelve argent and azure an orle of six martlets gules' clearly visible and mostly unworn. Colloquially the design is '12 lines of alternating silver and blue alternating with six red martlets (aligned top to bottom 3,2,1). The device is picked out in champlevé enamel for the martlets and the blue bars, which remains only as staining within in the cell work or small areas of worn in situ enamel generally in the upper sections of the design. The silver bars may have been tinned or silvered but evidence for that is uncertain due to wear. Where not enamelled the object is mottled various shades of dark grey green through to lighter green. There is no evidence of a suspension loop, fixings holes or fixing points and a single integral rivet is visible on the reverse of the mount. Some evidence of finishing via filing is present on most of the bare faces.

Measurements: Length 47.04mm; width 37.77mm; thickness 5.77mm (including rivet, 3.6mm without), weight 31.5g.

Discussion: Griffiths (1986) notes that the use of enamelled heraldic harness pendants were at their most popular in the 13th and 14th centuries, and such mounts most likely conform to a very similar trend. Ashley (2002, 16) discusses a similar large heraldic shield shape fitting or mount as no.146 and also notes the lack of fitting points or suspensions points and suggests that they "may once have been fixed to the saddle of a horse in a similar manner to that shown in a mural of St George, c.1450, in St Gregory's church, Norwich. Shields of this size could equally well have been part of some other object, perhaps even a tomb or monument" Griffiths (1989, 1-2) also observes that Large shield-shaped mounts are also occasionally shown on monuments as being attached both to female attire and to the camail of knights". Griffiths (1989. 1) goes onto discuss other objects to which such mounts could be attached including boxes/caskets, other non-monumental architectural elements, stirrups (unlikely due to size here) and shields for statuettes.

The heraldry on this mount matches that of the De Valence family as the Earls of Pembroke. William de Lusignan (later De Valence, c.1225-1296) and his two brothers Guy de Lusignan and Aymer came to England in 1247 on the invitation of Henry III (1216-1272), likely due to familial connection to the king (William being the kings maternal half brothers). William became Earl of Pembroke thanks to his marriage to Joane daughter of Warine De Monchensy, who was in turn heir via a complicated family inheritance. William came to be called William de Valence.

As the appointed Earl of Pembroke he was a loyal supporter of the King and fought in many wars at home and in the Holy Land. During the Second Baronial War he retreated from the Battle of Lewes (1264), where the king and the future Edward I were captured and managed to escape to Pevensey and then to France. It has been suggested that he and/or part of his retinue passed through Kent on their way to France. After the Royals were restored (in 1265) William returned and was granted new additional lands thanks to his support of the king, some of which was in Kent (of note, the Manor of Sutton still bares the family name as Sutton Valence to this day). William died in 1296 and after his wife's death in 1307 was succeeded by his son (named after his brother) Aymer De Valence 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1307-1324), who died childless in 1324 and the earldom became extinct after the much later death of his 2nd wife.

The De Valence family are known to have commissioned a number of enamel pieces with a number survive to this day. The most impressive example of which shows the arms repeated alongside the Royal Arms of England and that of four other important families of the day (Brittany, Angouleme, Brabant and Lacy) on the highly gilt and enamelled casket associated with Aymer De Valence in the Victoria & Albert Museum's Metalwork collection known as <a href="http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126749/the-valence-casket-casket-unknown/">The Valence Casket (museum accession number (4-1865)</a>.The heraldry is also seen, again in enamel on the tomb of William De Valence at Westminster Abbey (<a href="https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/william-and-aymer-de-valence/">as seen here</a>), which also shows the arms in stone. The arms may also have graced Aymer's tomb, also in Westminster Abbey but his shield is missing, as are other elements of his tomb, though it remains in a grand state (<a href="https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/william-and-aymer-de-valence/">as seen here</a>). A modern representation of the arms of Valence impaling St Pol is opposite the tomb of Aymer (<a href="https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/william-and-aymer-de-valence/">as seen here</a>) and commemorates his wife Mary St Pol Countess of Pembroke (1304-1377). The arms are also shown in enamel on a number of armorial harness fittings and pendants such as the harness pendant from Mitcham (now part of London) held by the British Museum (1947,1007.1) and a number of other examples reported to the PAS e.g. harness pendants <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/714813">BH-3FF1E6</a>, <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/550880">SF-877DA2Z</a>, <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/463910">SF-CAA2A6</a>, <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/247613">YORYM-F34C75</a>, <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/187366">SWYOR-500704</a>, <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/75735">SWYOR-4397F5</a> and <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/827698">NMS-F3DB89</a>, a small round stud has also been reported <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/654716">IOW-71311D</a>. Baker (2015, 7) notes that the heraldry of Valence is one of the six most common private arms to figure on heraldic pendants reported. Baker (ibid) goes onto note that that there is a wide array of styles and quality of workmanship in these, which we can see in the variety of examples reported to the PAS.