DRESS HOOK

A Post Medieval cast copper alloy hooked tag. The tag is mostly flat backed and has a moulded front. The central plate is circular with a central raised design of a head with a beard and moustache surrounded by a plain line border surrounded by a ring of pellets surrounded by an outer cabled border. The back of the central plate has an indented area corrisponding to the raised head. The back of the central plate has an indented area corresponding to the raised head. There is a trapezoid attachment loop to one side of the plate. On the opposite side is a broken hook which has lost its lower half due to an old break. There is a raised area at the top of the hook on the front which may be a collar or a debased face (see below); the hook is D shaped in section with a flat back. The face is the right way up when the attachment loop is at the top and the hook at the bottom. It is 33.4mm long, 17.3mm wide and 3.5mm thick; it weighs 2.35 grams. Read (2008: 92) illustrates several similar examples; his no.322 has a worn head at the top of the hook and a flat back while 323 has a plain collar and a recess in the back of the central plate. He categorises both as Early Post Medieval Class E Type 3 and suggests they date from c.1500-1625, with most being used 1500-1550.