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Description: | A worn and damaged cast copper-alloy hooked plate from a post-medieval sword-belt fitting. Overall, these strap-fittings tend to consist of a mount with three suspension loops from which hang a trio of hooked plates; the scabbard straps would have been attached to these plates. The ensemble features foliate decoration on their visible faces: an illustration of a complete sword-belt fitting can be found in Read (2001, 43; ref. 373).
This single hooked plate is sub-triangular in plan and very slightly convex with a flat lower face. The hook has been bent forwards and at an angle. Further the tip of the hook is now flush to the stem. From the hook (W.: 4.9mm) the plate flares out to a width of 15.3mm after 13.8mm. Aligned with the base of these side protrusions is a central circular rivet perforation, which on the lower surface is surrounded by a recess; the rivet is missing. Below, the object narrows to a waist 8.6mm wide beyond these protrusions, before widening again to 17.8mm, 13.8mm from the terminal. Below these latter protrusions, and above the trefoil terminal, is another waist at which the plate narrows to 9.9mm. At the beginning of the trefoil is an off-centre perforation surrounded by traces of iron corrosion product on both surfaces, and the remnants of the rivet; again the hole is recessed on the lower face. As implied above, the reverse is plain; the front, visible, face features an elaborate scrolled foliage pattern, split down the longitudinal axis, with incised fronds trailing towards the edges. The object now has a largely mid/dark-green patina with traces lighter corrosion product and the orange of the iron rivet.
Such fittings 'proliferate in the 16th and 17th centuries' (Geake 2001, 35). Their design and decoration are relatively standardised, as can be seen in those recorded on this database, including this Hampshire example: HAMP-3DF447. | Subjects: | sword belt fitting | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Webley, Robert - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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