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Description: | A complete cast copper alloy zoomorphic belt hook, of Early Post Medieval to Modern dating (1500 to 1950 AD).The belt hook is S shaped with an oval cross section. A zoomorphic or animal head terminal is present at either end, with a slit mouth, curling snout and ears. At the centre of the S is a 'waisted' area of four knops.The belt hook is a mid to dark green colour, with an even surface patina. It has suffered from a degree of abrasion, caused by movement whilst within the plough soil. This abrasion has resulted in a loss of some surface detail.The belt hook measures 28.77mm in length, 11.78mm wide and 3.4mm thick. It weighs 3.1 grams.The belt hook is stylistically similar to a dragon or a sea creature as opposed to the more common snake design. The earliest snake-form fasteners appear on portraits of the early post-Medieval period, often in association with sword-belts. Bailey (1997, 20) 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. It is highly improbable that it is a dragonesque plate brooch of Roman dating, due to it not being a plate brooch or due to the absence of enameled decoration.Read has published a similar belt fitting as #822 (Read, 2008, 230) which he has dated to c. mid 16th to c. early 17th Century, possibly from a sword belt. However the style is a relatively long lived one, persisting into the 20th Century.Several similar belt fittings have been recorded on the PAS database, all of Early Post Medieval dating (1500 to 1700 AD): WMID-F55797 from Derbyshire; DENO-EEBBD4 from Lincolnshire; SWYOR-D7BF04 from North Lincolnshire; SWYOR-EC2FB8 from North Yorkshire; WMID-11DAC3 from Warwickshire and WILT-A862F5 & WILT-468492 from Wiltshire.Reference:Bailey, G. 1997. Detector Finds 3. Greenlight Publishing. Witham.Read, B. 2008. Hooked Clasps and Eyes. Portcullis Publishing. Langport.
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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