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Description: | Copper-alloy hinged plate and loop from a book clasp. The plate is rectangular, flat and has a circular hole in the centre The surface of the plate is decorated with longitudinal rows of opposing punched triangles; this ornament is sometimes known as 'rouletting', but it is very uncertain at present how it was produced. The attachment end has a separate copper-alloy hinge bar. There is a transverse groove and then a thickened ridge at the other end, which carries a projecting loop set at right angles to the plate and pierced horizontally. The loop is in the form of a stylised animal head, with the eye being the hole and the mouth depicted open by a faceted groove.Similar items have been found in late 14th and early 15th century layers in London. A suggestion as book fittings was originally made in view of their prevalence in ecclesiastical contexts (Egan and Pritchard, 1991, 155) and has since been confirmed by items in-situ on book covers (Egan 1998, 277-280). Also compare other examples on the database, e.g. WILT-4267F5.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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