POST MEDIEVAL BUTTON

1600

A biconvex hollow silver button (SF1) was retrieved from context [2]. Made with the front and back soldered together, the button is now partly decayed with the two halves coming apart. At the front, the button is stamped with a five-petalled rosette (Tudor rose), while the flat back has two blow-holes and a simple soldered silver wire loop. There is also a maker's mark at the back, featuring a simple heater shield with the letters IE or IF above a star. The button measures 16mm in diameter.While the five-petalled rosette was used during a long time, the style and design of the button suggests a date in the 17th century. Examples of similar type include a biconvex button with a similar decoration, from Suffolk (Treasure Annual Report 2003, 117: 2003 T365) and the upper half of a hollow button, stamped with a portrait bust of Charles II within a beaded border, from North Yorkshire (Treasure Annual Report 2004, 120: 2004 T383). Cheaper versions of biconvex hollow buttons with stamped design were also made in copper-alloy (cf. Read 2005, 85-6).