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Description: | Part of a Medieval copper-alloy book-clasp consisting of a cast hinged plate and a small portion of copper-alloy plate.The plate is sub-oval in plan, domed at the front and flat at the rear. There is a circular hole at the centre of the dome, and at the terminal there is an incomplete loop broken through a transverse circular perforation. At the attachment end there are two integral projecting arms with a circular hole through each arm to take a separate copper-alloy hinge bar. A small part of the sheet plate survives, wrapped around the bar. The object is now corroded with most of its surface lost.Parallels for this object come from contexts of c. 1350-c. 1450 AD in London (Egan and Pritchard 1991: 154-155, fig. 101, refs: 720-726) and have been interpreted as book clasps (Egan 1998, 277-280). The clasp would have been secured over a peg in the opposite cover, which would have fitted into the hole in the centre. The loop in the terminal is thought to have held a cord, making the clasp easier to remove from the peg.
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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strap end
An incomplete copper-alloy hinged plate…
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