MEDIEVAL CLASP

1250

Strap clasp made of copper alloy, with folded rectangular plate and sub-rectangular frame. The outer edge of the frame is extended into the shape of an integral animal head with pierced eyes, decorated with incised horizontal lines and a single chevron. The top and bottom edges of the frame flare slightly towards the outer edge; the frame tapers slightly towards the plate. The folded plate is not recessed for the frame, and has an engraved St. Andrews cross and a vertical line to either side all within a rectangular frame. The engraving is slightly zig-zag as if the engraver has rocked the tool slightly to work it through the metal. Single copper-alloy rivet present. The precise way in which this clasp would have functioned is still obscure (Egan and Pritchard 1991). A similar example is recorded on the PAS database at LVPL1249.Medieval, mid thirteenth to mid fifteenth century.