purse bar thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

purse bar

Purse Bar
1450-1500
Place of origin
England

Copper alloy, England, 1450-1500

Object details

Object type
Purse bar
Titlepurse bar (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Copper Alloy
Brief description
Copper alloy, England, 1450-1500
Dimensions
  • From one end of the bar to the other length: 17.7cm
  • Across the central block (where the attachment loop would have been inserted) width: 1.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • On the front of the block: 'IHS' (Latin, abbreviation of 'Jesus') On the back of the block: 'AM' (Latin, abbreviation for 'Ave Maria' - 'Hail, Mary')
  • On the front of the bar (ie. the side with the monogram 'IHS'): AVE MAGI RAqMENA (Latin, for 'Ave Ma[ria] Gira[tia] Pmena', or 'Ave Maria Gratia Plena' - 'Hail Mary full of grace') On the back of the bar (ie. the side with the abbreviation 'AM'): Inscription very worn, only letters 'VI' and 'ECV?M' legible, perhaps originally 'DOMINVS TECUM', Latin, 'The Lord be with you'.
Credit line
Given by Archibald G. B. Russell
Bibliographic references
  • Williams, David. Copper-Alloy Purse Components. A new classification using finds from England and Wales recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Finds Research Group, Datasheet 50.
  • Ward-Perkins, John. London Museum: Medieval Catalogue. London: 1940; repr. Ipswich, Suffolk: Anglia, 1993. ISBN 1897874014 9781897874011
  • Syer Cuming, H. 'History of Purses'. In: Journal of the British Archaeological Association, vol. 14 (858), 131-44.
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
M.145-1915

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O325744/purse-bar-purse-bar/
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