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Description: | A complete cast copper alloy post medieval hooked tag (dress hook). The hooked tag consists of a slightly offset U shaped hook, at right angles to the plain of a plate, with a broadly rectangular perforated terminal. The hook is D-shaped in section, with the reverse flat. Between hook and sub-ectangular terminal, the front of the tag is decorated with a central berry like motif within a V-shaped moulding with circular openwork to the sides. There are casting flashes within the perforated terminal. The reverse of the moulding is flat and undecorated. The hooked tag is predominantly brown in colour, although there are some areas with a slightly raised green surface visible, particularly on the moulding on the front of the plate, and the reverse. The hooked tag is 38.3mm long, 16.0mm wide, and 2.2mm thick on the plate. These are maximum dimensions. The hooked tag weighs 2.43g. In: "Material Culture in London in an Age of Transition", Egan (2005, p.42) suggests that single hooked tags were thought to have been used in pairs on the ends of short chains or straps. Their function, he adds, was probably joining subsidiary, decorative accessories together or onto a main garment, strap or the like (ibid.). The tag is very similar to object 153 illustrated in "Material Culture in London in an Age of Transition" (ibid. p44), which is incomplete. Object 153 was recovered with ceramics dated to c. 1575-c.1600 (with some intrusive material). The tag described here is also very similar to object 72 (incomplete) and object 73 (complete) recorded in, "Norwich Households. Medieval and Post-Medieval Finds from Norwich Survey Excavations 1971-78" (Margeson, 1993, p.17 and fig. 8). Based on the dating of these parallels, the hooked tag described in this record is likely to be post medieval, dating from c.1575-c1700. Based on the large numbers recovered on both sides of the North sea, Egan suggests that hooked tags were, "very popular in their day" (ibid.).
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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