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Description: | A copper-alloy medieval book clasp comprising cast terminal 'loop' and folded sheet plate. As with such objects the loop's body is broadly semicircular with a central hole. At the flat end protrude two integral lugs, pierced, and retaining an axis bar. Folded around the axis bar is the hinged, double-sided plate to which a strap would have been riveted. The loop itself terminates in a small, perpendicular loop, pierced centrally and with angled edges (Th.: 5.4mm), sub zoomorphic in appearance. Indeed, a transverse ridge just beyond the semicircular element has raised points at each side that look like ears. The plate is recessed at the loop end to accommodate the loop. It expands slightly from this point (W.: 10.5mm) to the attachment end (W.: 12.7mm). The attachment end is concave, as on published examples, and perforated at each corner to take rivets; both rivets have been lost. The plate is scratched, but plain, and has a dark-green patina. The loop is more brown/green in colour. This artefact is comparable to an example illustrated in Egan (1998, 278-79; ref. 925), dated to the late 14th/early 15th century AD. The plates are splayed as a result of old damage and bent upwards, particularly at the attachment end.
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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