Rights Holder: Somerset County Council
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BUTTON
Unique ID: SOM-7DD297
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A fragment of a cast lead alloy Post-Medieval button with an integral shank. It is not clear how big the button would have been or the percentage of which has now been lost as all the edges are broken. The front of the button is slightly convex and the reverse flat. The front is decorated with a raised cast design of a flower with a central pellet surrounded by a ring from which radiate pointed oval petals, each curving slightly anti-clockwise and probably cross hatched on the front. It is not possible to identify the number ofpetals here due to the breaks. The back has a straight casting seam across it and in the centre is the stub of the integral shank or loop leaving a scar where it would have been. The button is now 17.6mm in diameter, 5.2mm thick and weighs 3.23g.
A very similar design is illustrated in Read (2005, 66) no. 256 on a flatter button dated to the 17th century. He suggests other convex fronted buttons with flower designs (ibid:61) are possibly 16th century.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1500
Date to: Circa AD 1700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 5.2 mm
Weight: 3.23 g
Diameter: 17.6 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 1st September 2012
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: SCC receipt 022234
Materials and construction
Primary material: Lead Alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Somerset (County)
District: West Somerset (District)
To be known as: Withycombe
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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