Record

Sculptured stone

< 1 of 1 > Back

Found at Bullion, Invergowrie, Angus

Postcard of Sculptured stone.
000-100-043-517-C
© National Museums Scotland

Sculptured stone

This unusual sculptured stone was discovered at Bullion at Invergowrie in Angus when the Kingsway extension was built around Dundee. It may have been the work of an imaginative local sculptor.

Decorated in relief on one side only, the slab shows a horseman with a round shield slung across his shoulders. The man drinks from a horn while his horse plods uphill. The bird's head on the drinking horn is twisted to look down on the rider.

Cattle horns, embellished with elaborate metal mounts at the mouth and metal terminals at the point, were high status possessions in Anglo-Saxon and Viking societies. Some were used as drinking horns. Others were probably blown as a battle horn.


Record details

To search on related items, click any linked text below.

Online ID: 000-100-043-517-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IB 229
Date: Around the first half of the 10th century
c. 900 - 950
Material: Stone
Dimensions: 2050 mm H x 160 mm L x 780 mm W
What: Slab
Subject:
Who:
Where: Scotland, Angus, Invergowrie, Bullion
Event:
Description: Pictish sculptured slab depicting a horseman with sword and shield drinking from an ox horn, from Bullion, Invergowrie, c. 900 - 950
References:
  • Close-Brooks, J. & Stevenson, R.B.K. Dark Age Sculpture. Edinburgh: HMSO, 1982 
Translations:
Related Records:
< 1 of 1 > Back
 
Powered by Scran