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Description: | A probable cast copper alloy book-clasp of 14th century AD date. The fitting measures 58.5mm by 25.9mm by 11.7mm and weighs 30.2g. It consists of three elements: a hollow square section with an open end and two rivets to hold a strap, a hollow lozenge-shaped section with a circular hole in the reverse and a solid square terminal set at ninety degrees to the rest of the strap-end. This has a central hole which, by analogy with other examples, would have held a ring or cord which would have facilitated the removal of the clasp. The front of the square section is decorated with an engraved Lombardic letter u, set within a hatched rectangle. The front of the lozenge-shaped section is decorated with an incised saltire within a square. There are a number of similar book-clasps on the PAS database, including examples from Shropshire (HESH-CE2816) and Suffolk (SF-BBA2E6). Another example from the Isle of Wight (IOW-108BF1) features in the Portable Antiquities Annual Report for 2004/5 (pp. 71-72). This type of strap-end is thought to have functioned as a book-clasp because of the holes in the undersides of the lozenge-shaped elements, which would have fitted onto pegs mounted on the books' covers. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Payne, Naomi - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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