Torrs Pony-cap and Horns
Encyclopedia
The Torrs Horns and Torrs Pony-cap (once together known as the Torrs Chamfrein) are Iron Age
bronze pieces now in the National Museum of Scotland
, which were found together, but whose relationship is one of many questions about these "famous and controversial" objects that continue to be debated by scholars. Most scholars agree that horns were added to the pony-cap at a later date, but whether they were originally made for this purpose is unclear; one theory sees them as mounts for drinking-horns, either totally or initially unconnected to the cap. The three pieces are decorated in a late stage of La Tène style, as Iron Age Celtic art
is called by archaeologists. The dates ascribed to the elements vary, but are typically around 200 BC; it is generally agreed that the horns are somewhat later than the cap, and in a rather different style.
Whatever the original appearance and functions of the objects, and wherever they were made, they are very finely designed and skillfully executed, and form part of a small surviving group of elaborate metal objects found around the British Isles that were commissioned by the elite of Iron Age British and Irish society in the final centuries before the arrival of the Romans.
, Dumfries and Galloway
, Scotland, the context suggesting they were a votive deposit (the bog may once have been a pool or lake). They were given by the local excise
man to the novelist Sir Walter Scott, and long displayed with the horns attached to the cap at Abbotsford House
, which was opened for public visits from 1833, soon after Scott's death. The horns are currently exhibited fixed onto the cap, pointing backwards, but were originally mounted pointing forwards, and have also been displayed detached from the cap.
The engraved decoration on the horns is described by Lloyd Laing as "very neatly incised and very elaborate; each pattern begins with a circular yin-yang element and swells outwards into a central design before tailing off into a delicate fan-shaped tip. A tiny full-face human mask has been incorporated into the central element of the larger horn." The pony-cap is 10.5 inches long, and the complete horn 16.5 inches along its curve, the dimensions meaning that the horse wearing the cap "would have had to be a very small one". The cap has a large piece at its back proper left missing, and three ancient repairs, using small plates, each decorated with patterns; in the photograph here one can be seen between the ear hole and the near horn, another vertical near the front edge of the cap.
and Witham Shield
s, and an especially closely related work is a bronze shield boss found
in the river Thames at Wandsworth
in London, to the extent that Piggot designates a "Torrs-Wandsworth style"; all these three objects are in the British Museum
. The group includes other objects from Britain and Ireland.
In a Scottish context, the cap has been seen as a leading example of a distinctive "Galloway style" of La Tene art, closely related to developments in northern Ireland, a short distance across the Irish Sea. Other scholars see the pieces as imported products, perhaps from "east-central England".
's head-mask", though thought to be medieval. It would have been held on by leather straps, with a plume rising from the top of the cap. No other metal champron from ancient times is known, but there appear to be Celtic and classical Greek examples in materials such as boiled leather, including one from Newstead Fort, a Roman outpost in Scotland. Another possibility is that the intended wearer was a wooden cult statue of a horse, which would help explain the small size.
The theory that the horns were drinking-horn mounts, never joined to the cap in ancient times, was first proposed by Professors Piggott and Atkinson in 1955, and was widely accepted for about three decades, leading to the horns being detached from the cap and displayed separately. However the theory depended on the assumption that the holes and rivets used to attach the horns to the cap were all the work of a 19th century restorer. Subsequent investigation suggested that this was not in fact the case, and "opinion has swung back" to support the original reconstruction, and by the late 1960s Piggott and Atkinson preferred "to think of the horns as yoke-terminals" for chariots. The possibility remains that the horns were made for a different function, but later attached to the cap at some time before its deposit.
Though no actual comparable finds have been made, some parallels have been suggested in representations of similar caps, including a figure of the mythical horse Pegasus
on a coin of Tasciovanus
, the largely Romanized chief who ruled the Catuvellauni
from Verlamion
(St Albans) between about 20 BC and 9 AD, and was the father of Cymbeline
. The Pegasus appears to wear a cap from which rise two knobbed horns.
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
bronze pieces now in the National Museum of Scotland
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the Royal Museum next door, with collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world...
, which were found together, but whose relationship is one of many questions about these "famous and controversial" objects that continue to be debated by scholars. Most scholars agree that horns were added to the pony-cap at a later date, but whether they were originally made for this purpose is unclear; one theory sees them as mounts for drinking-horns, either totally or initially unconnected to the cap. The three pieces are decorated in a late stage of La Tène style, as Iron Age Celtic art
Celtic art
Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...
is called by archaeologists. The dates ascribed to the elements vary, but are typically around 200 BC; it is generally agreed that the horns are somewhat later than the cap, and in a rather different style.
Whatever the original appearance and functions of the objects, and wherever they were made, they are very finely designed and skillfully executed, and form part of a small surviving group of elaborate metal objects found around the British Isles that were commissioned by the elite of Iron Age British and Irish society in the final centuries before the arrival of the Romans.
Modern history
The artefacts were found together, but with the horns detached from the cap, "about 1820" and "before 1829", in a peat bog at Torrs Farm, Kelton, KirkcudbrightKirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.The town lies south of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, in the part of Dumfries and Galloway known as the Stewartry, at the mouth of the River Dee, some six miles from the sea...
, Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
, Scotland, the context suggesting they were a votive deposit (the bog may once have been a pool or lake). They were given by the local excise
Excise
Excise tax in the United States is a indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States...
man to the novelist Sir Walter Scott, and long displayed with the horns attached to the cap at Abbotsford House
Abbotsford House
Abbotsford is a historic house in the region of the Scottish Borders in the south of Scotland, near Melrose, on the south bank of the River Tweed. It was formerly the residence of historical novelist and poet, Walter Scott...
, which was opened for public visits from 1833, soon after Scott's death. The horns are currently exhibited fixed onto the cap, pointing backwards, but were originally mounted pointing forwards, and have also been displayed detached from the cap.
Description
The cap is decorated in repoussé with vegetal motifs, trumpet-spirals and bird heads, while the horns have "boldly asymmetric" engraved decoration including a human face and the single complete one terminates in a modelled bird head; it has been suggested that this represents specifically the head of a Northern Shoveller duck. This probably originally had coral eyes; the other horn lacks its tip. The cap has holes for the ears of the pony; the angle at which the cap is currently displayed, as in the photo here, is designed to show the decoration clearly, and corresponds to that the cap would have had with the horse bowing its head. The photos on the museum website show the normal angle when worn better, with the edges on the sides roughly parallel with the ground.The engraved decoration on the horns is described by Lloyd Laing as "very neatly incised and very elaborate; each pattern begins with a circular yin-yang element and swells outwards into a central design before tailing off into a delicate fan-shaped tip. A tiny full-face human mask has been incorporated into the central element of the larger horn." The pony-cap is 10.5 inches long, and the complete horn 16.5 inches along its curve, the dimensions meaning that the horse wearing the cap "would have had to be a very small one". The cap has a large piece at its back proper left missing, and three ancient repairs, using small plates, each decorated with patterns; in the photograph here one can be seen between the ear hole and the near horn, another vertical near the front edge of the cap.
Artistic context
The horns and cap are part of a small group of elaborately decorated objects that are the main evidence for one of the last phases of "Insular" La Tene style in Britain and Ireland, known as "Style IV" in an extension of the scheme originally devised by de Navarro for Continental works. Other objects include the BatterseaBattersea Shield
The Battersea Shield is one of the most significant pieces of ancient Celtic military equipment found in Britain. It is a sheet bronze covering of a wooden shield decorated in La Tène style...
and Witham Shield
Witham Shield
The Witham Shield is an Iron Age decorative bronze shield facing of La Tène style, dating from about the 4th century BC. The shield was discovered in the River Witham in the vicinity of Washingborough and Fiskerton in Lincolnshire, England in 1826...
s, and an especially closely related work is a bronze shield boss found
Wandsworth Shield
The Wandsworth Shield is a circular bronze Iron Age shield boss or mount that was found in the River Thames at Wandsworth in London sometime before 1849. Another incomplete bronze shield mount, sometimes called the Wandsworth Mask Shield was found at the same time. Both shield mounts are now held...
in the river Thames at Wandsworth
Wandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
in London, to the extent that Piggot designates a "Torrs-Wandsworth style"; all these three objects are in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. The group includes other objects from Britain and Ireland.
In a Scottish context, the cap has been seen as a leading example of a distinctive "Galloway style" of La Tene art, closely related to developments in northern Ireland, a short distance across the Irish Sea. Other scholars see the pieces as imported products, perhaps from "east-central England".
Function
The pony-cap is normally regarded as a Celtic example of a champron or chamfrein, a piece of horse armour of the type familiar from the late Middle Ages, but has also been seen as intended to be worn by a human in ritual contexts. This was also the view of local antiquaries when the object was found; in its first publication in 1841 it was described as "a mummerMUMmer
MUMmer is a bioinformatics software system for sequence alignment. It is based on the suffix tree data structure and is one of the fastest and most efficient systems available for this task, enabling it to be applied to very long sequences. It has been widely used for comparing different genomes...
's head-mask", though thought to be medieval. It would have been held on by leather straps, with a plume rising from the top of the cap. No other metal champron from ancient times is known, but there appear to be Celtic and classical Greek examples in materials such as boiled leather, including one from Newstead Fort, a Roman outpost in Scotland. Another possibility is that the intended wearer was a wooden cult statue of a horse, which would help explain the small size.
The theory that the horns were drinking-horn mounts, never joined to the cap in ancient times, was first proposed by Professors Piggott and Atkinson in 1955, and was widely accepted for about three decades, leading to the horns being detached from the cap and displayed separately. However the theory depended on the assumption that the holes and rivets used to attach the horns to the cap were all the work of a 19th century restorer. Subsequent investigation suggested that this was not in fact the case, and "opinion has swung back" to support the original reconstruction, and by the late 1960s Piggott and Atkinson preferred "to think of the horns as yoke-terminals" for chariots. The possibility remains that the horns were made for a different function, but later attached to the cap at some time before its deposit.
Though no actual comparable finds have been made, some parallels have been suggested in representations of similar caps, including a figure of the mythical horse Pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
on a coin of Tasciovanus
Tasciovanus
Tasciovanus was a historical king of the Catuvellauni tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain.-History:Tasciovanus is known only through numismatic evidence. He appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni ca. 20 BC, ruling from Verlamion...
, the largely Romanized chief who ruled the Catuvellauni
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni were a tribe or state of south-eastern Britain before the Roman conquest.The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through numismatic evidence and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Dio Cassius, who implies...
from Verlamion
Verlamion
Verlamion, or Verlamio, was the tribal capital of the Catuvellauni tribe in Iron Age Britain from approximately 20 BC until shortly after the Roman invasion of 43 AD...
(St Albans) between about 20 BC and 9 AD, and was the father of Cymbeline
Cunobelinus
Cunobeline or Cunobelinus was a historical king in pre-Roman Britain, known from passing mentions by classical historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and from his many inscribed coins...
. The Pegasus appears to wear a cap from which rise two knobbed horns.
Further reading
- Calder, Jenni. The Wealth of a Nation, Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland and Glasgow: Richard Drew Publishing, 1989, pp. 97–9.
- Jope, E. M., "Torrs, Aylesford, and the Padstow hobby-horse", in From the Stone Age to the 'Forty-Five', studies presented to RBK Stevenson, ed. A. O'Connor and DV Clarke, 1983, 149–59, John Donald, Edinburgh – interprets Torrs as part of a mummer's costume. See also p. 130 in the same volume.
- MacGregor, Morna. Early Celtic art in North Britain. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1976, vol. 1, pp. 23–4; vol. 2, no. 1.
- Megaw, J. V. S., Art of the European Iron Age: a study of the elusive image, Adams & Dart, 1970
- Piggott S. and Atkinson R., "The Torrs Chamfrein", Archaeologia, XCVI, 197–235, 1955 – the paper proposing the "drinking-horn mounts" theory.