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Date: |
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Description: | A near-complete cast copper alloy medieval buckle and plate, dating from c. AD 1250-1500. The buckle is rectangular in plan with a long narrowed strap bar to which the plate is attached. The pin is missing.The buckle has raised outer edges, the recess between being filled with moulded decoration of multiple diagonal lines. This design is only present on the upper side of the buckle, the reverse being flat and plain. The buckle plate is rectangular in plan and consists of one sheet of copper alloy that has been folded over the buckle bar with two rectangular lugs cut out form the main sheet. The plate has three rivet holes along the bottom edge, the third now being folded towards the inside of the plate (probably post-depositional damage). Both the buckle and the plate have been silvered and much of this remains. The most striking element of this buckle set is the design on the plate; within a field of 'wigglework' decoration, is what appears to be an incised design depicting an insect, seemingly a grasshopper. The execution of the incising is precise and although the depiction has an almost comical appearance to the modern eye(especially the head of the insect), the two short front legs, possible open wing and two large back legs leaves little doubt of the intended subject. A look at the available literature, and at other buckles on this database and elsewhere, has not revealed any parallels, not just of grasshoppers, but of insects in general, although they were common depictions in medieval literature.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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