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Description: | A small and bent but complete post-medieval copper alloy book clasp of two part construction, dating to the 16th or 17th century. The main plate is formed from a rectangular strip of metal with one end slightly expanded and split forming a 'fishtail' shape, and with an integral blunt projecting hook at the other end. Underneath this another copper alloy plate is attached, following the width of the upper strip but terminating in a straight edge. This is held in place by two copper alloy rivets in the fishtail end and another centrally placed rivet towards the hook end. The lower plate ends after the latter rivet, and just beyond this the upper plate is bent inwards at an angle of c.90°. The upper surface is decorated with two stamped concentric circles surrounding a punched dot. The metal of the main plate now has a brown patina while the lower plate is a mid-green colour.The clasp is now 28.8mm long (unbent c.37mm), 3.8mm wide at the hook and 12.1mm wide at the fishtail. The lower plate is 25.5mm long and together they are 3.0mm thick. The clasp weighs 2.17g.The form and decoration are typical of book clasps of the early post-medieval period, as discussed by Margeson (1993: 74). Many similar examples can also be seen on the PAS database e.g. HAMP-FC680A and DOR-8E6CF6.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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