POST MEDIEVAL STRAP FITTING

1500

A complete copper alloy zoomorphic strap fitting or belt hook, of Early Post Medieval to Modern dating (1500 to 1950 AD). The belt hook is S-shaped in planwith an oval cross section. A zoomorphic or animal head terminal is present at either end, with a raised snout and ears.At the centre of the S is a 'waisted' area comprising a central flower design, with leaves pointing away on both sides. Thesestrap fittings are thought torepresents two stylised snakes joined together in the middle, although they also appear in bird form.The earliest snake-form fasteners appear on portraits of the early post-Medieval period, often in association with sword-belts. Bailey (1997, 20) states that the 'snake form belt hooks' became popular during the 16th century, where an example can be seen in the portrait of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, c. 1575. The fastener was part of a sword belt, and was used in place of the normal buckle. It is likely that these strap fittings would have been tinned or gilded. The snake belt hook would seem to have fallen from fashion by the 17th century, and remained so until the end of the 18th century, when it was favoured by the military. Read (2008, 230)has published a similar belt fitting as #822, which he has dated to c. mid 16th to c. early 17th Century. However the style is a relatively long lived one, persisting into the 20th Century.