sheet;
strip(?)
- Museum number
- 1881,0516.12
- Description
-
Copper alloy, fragment of a ?strip of sheet metal. Corroded surfaces; orginal edge visible on one edge.
- Production date
- 1900BC-1600BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Thickness: 0.50 - 1 millimetres
-
Length: 20 millimetres
-
Weight: 0.90 grammes
-
Width: 18 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The cape would have been unsuitable for everyday wear because it would have severely restricted upper arm movement. Instead it would have served ceremonial roles, and may have denoted religious authority.
The cape is one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet-gold working and is quite unique in form and design. It was laboriously beaten out of a single ingot of gold, then embellished with intense decoration of ribs and bosses to mimic multiple strings of beads amid folds of cloth. Perforations along the upper and lower edges indicate that it was once attached to a lining, perhaps of leather, which has decayed. The bronze strips may have served to strengthen the adornment further.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2021-2022 4 Jun-9 Jan, Halle, Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege und Archaologie Sachsen-Anhalt, The Nebra Sky Disc
2013 7 Aug-14 Sep, Wrexham, Wrexham Museum, Spotlight: The Mold Gold Cape
2013 2 Jul-4 Aug, Cardiff, National Museum of Wales, Spotlight: The Mold Gold Cape
- Acquisition notes
- In the presentation of the Mold Gold Cape to the Society of Antiquaries on 17th December 1835, a letter from Rev C.B. Clough which stated '...several pieces of copper... which had served as a stiffening or inner case or the armour. Some of these pieces are still in Mr Langford's possession' . It is therefore possible that they were acquired from Langford late in 1836 with the two gold sections 1836.0902.2-3. However in the absence of definitive evidence, they have been added to the 1881 registration.
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1881,0516.12