File:Book clasp of medieval date (FindID 404046).jpg

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Book clasp of medieval date
Photographer
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Richard Henry, 2012-11-01 16:24:36
Title
Book clasp of medieval date
Description
English: Cast copper alloy book clasp or book fitting of later medieval date (1350-1500). The book clasp is incomplete being broken at one edge; this break has removed the element of the mount that fixed it to the leather strap of the binding. The claps is broadly sub-triangular in shape with a rectangular hinge / strap plate, perforated oval boss at the midpoint, and tapering triangular zoomorphic terminal. In profile the clasp varies in thickness. The broken edge of the clasp indicates an openwork section with two copper alloy projections (now lost) at either edge. A transverse bar separates the strap plate with the boss. The boss is undecorated; it has a central cast perforation. This would have secured the book in a closed position. The diameter of the hole is 3.8mm. The edge of the boss tapers into the animal head terminal. Although this element tapers in width it expands in thickness. The design is probably that of a hunting dog / hound with cast ears swept backwards and mouth - snout raised. There is a pierced transverse circular hole in the mouth / jaws; this hole has been drilled as the profile is distinctly egg-timer shaped (diameter 2.5mm) and is broken across the lower edge. The book claps is a mid green brown colour with a abraded patina that covers all surfaces. Light green active corrosion affects the exterior surfaces. Similar examples of book clasps can be seen in Egan (1998) fig.214. Egan dates these to the late-14th and early 15th century. Egan notes that those claps with animal heads date stylistically to the later part of his date range.

The book clasp measures 38.7mm length, is a maximum of 19.8mm wide and maximum of 6.5mm thick. It weighs 10.7 grams.

Depicted place (County of findspot) Northamptonshire
Date between 1350 and 1500
date QS:P571,+1500-00-00T00:00:00Z/6,P1319,+1350-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1500-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Accession number
FindID: 404046
Old ref: HESH-3E44E3
Filename: HESH-3E44E3c.jpg
Credit line
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk
Source https://finds.org.uk/database/ajax/download/id/402493
Catalog: https://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/402493/recordtype/artefacts archive copy at the Wayback Machine
Artefact: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/404046
Permission
(Reusing this file)
Attribution-ShareAlike License version 4.0 (verified 30 November 2020)
Object location52° 19′ 22.44″ N, 0° 56′ 51.84″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

Licensing

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w:en:Creative Commons
attribution share alike
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Attribution: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum
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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current07:56, 1 February 2017Thumbnail for version as of 07:56, 1 February 20173,487 × 1,913 (2.34 MB) (talk | contribs)Portable Antiquities Scheme, NCL, FindID: 404046, medieval, page 4810, batch primary count 6975

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