| Portable Antiquities - An Ox-head Bucket Mount from Kingsbury |
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| In 1998 Mr. J. Stanfield, a metal detector user, found an ox-head bucket mount. These mounts tend to date from the late Iron Age to the Roman period. The Kingsbury mount was recorded by the Finds Liaison Officer, for the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Since then the Finds Liaison Officer has recorded only two other ox-head bucket mounts, one from Staffordshire, the other from Gloucestershire. | | |
The Kingsbury mount represents the frontal view of an ox or a bull head. The horns are short, perhaps broken off in antiquity, but more likely representing the knobbed styled horns from the early Roman period. The eyes are oval shaped, and are quite ‘cartoon-like’. The forehead and nose has been decorated by cross-hatching.
Little research has been carried out on these objects. We don't know who owned buckets with these mounts on. Were they herdsman, or perhaps people high up in the local community? What are the exact dates of the objects? At present we only have vague dates from the Iron Age to Roman period. Have any of these mounts been discovered on archaeological excavations where they can be dated more closely? Who made these mounts? Does the ‘cross-hatching’ design represent a local Warwickshire style? There are endless questions to be answered. |
The Portable Antiquities Scheme has recorded many objects, such as these ox-head bucket mounts that need further research. All of the objects recorded on the Portable Antiquities website provide a great resource for further research. The ox-head bucket mounts are being researched by the Finds Liaison Officer for Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Angie Bolton. If you have seen or found one she would be very interested to hear from you.
The Warwickshire Museum website will keep you up-dated
about the story of the ox-head bucket mounts, and hopefully
we will have more answers about the Kingsbury mount shortly.
The Kingsbury ox-head mount is currently on display at the Market Hall Museum
along with another warwickshire example from Coleshill. |
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