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Description: | A cast copper-alloy strap fitting: a hooked plate from a post-medieval sword-belt fitting. The fitting is sub-triangular in plan with a moulded trefoil shaped upper edge and it has a horizontal collar at the base. The body of the fitting has a rivet hole, filled with traces of an iron rivet. The outer surface is decorated with an elaborate scrolled foliage pattern. Integral to the base there is a hook which is oval in section and curves outwards. The terminal of the hook is broken. The object now has a largely mid/dark-green patina. The fitting measures 47.08mm long, 20.73mm wide and 6.66mm thick at the hook. It weighs 9.7g.These sword belt 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). Their design and decoration are relatively standardised. Such fittings proliferate in the 16th and 17th centuries' (Geake 2001, 35).
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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