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Description: | A complete cast copper-alloy S-shaped belt hook fastener of Post-Medieval to Modern date (c. AD 1550 - c. 1900). Length: 41.1mm; width: 23.8mm and 4.1mm thick. Weight: 11.72g.One end of the fastener terminates in a slightly expanded snake's head with relatively prominent eyes. In plan, the centre part of the snake's body expands slightly. At the other end it tapers to a tail. The strap fitting is decorated on both faces. The upper convex face is decorated with a series of small elongated pellets close the head and the remaining part of the upper face has hatching in light relief forming lozenge shapes to represent the nature of the snake's skin. The lower face is also convex and this is entirely decorated with transverse grooves. The surfaces are a dull red-brown colour. It also has small patches of bright green corrosion products.Similar examples are illustrated in Gordon Bailey's 'Detector Finds 3', 1997, pages 20-1. Bailey states that the 'snake form belt hooks' became popular during the 16th century, where an example can be seen in the portrait of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, c. 1575. The fastener was part of a sword belt, and was used in place of the normal buckle. It is likely that these strap fittings would have been tinned or gilded. The snake belt hook would seem to have fallen from fashion by the 17th century, and remained so until the end of the 18th century, when it was favoured by the military (Bailey, page 20).
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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