Mystery Solved
The Mystery Object
The object above was found during renovation of a house in Ailsworth. It's a copper -alloy object approx 5 cms high and 3cms wide. It's hollow with an aperture that runs right through it. The outer surface is decorated with a grooved pattern and has two small projections.
Did You Get it Right?
This is a late Medieval copper-alloy sword pommel.
The perforation through the middle would have been used to secure the pommel onto the shaft of the sword handle . It looks like a variant of the ‘cat’s head’ pommels used on Italian basket-hilted swords known as ‘schiavona’ introduced by Slavonic mercenaries, that date from AD1500-1750.
How it got to be buried under the floor of a house in the village of Ailsworth is another mystery!