DRESS FASTENER (DRESS)

Complete cast 'eye' half of a copper alloy hooked tag, made as one-piece moulded relief. This is a Read, B. Early Post-Medieval Class A single blunt-hooked and eye type 2 dress hook. It measures 40.65mm long, 23.47mm wide and 3.10mm thick. The hooked tag has an elongated oval, veering on roughly triangular, plate in plan of a foliate form. This consists of a central segmented stem with three oblique ovoids to either side being widest just above the rectangular loop. Two attachment knops sit either side of the tag, below the widest pair of ovoids. The internal diameter of the knops is approximately 2.95mm. The third attachment knop, which is also complete, is is located at the end opposite to the eye loop. There is some evidence of champlevé enamelling remaining on the ovoids at the narrow end of the tag and the enamel, which remains, is a creamy-white to yellow colour. The lowest central feild looks to have originally been infilled with pale green enamel. There is also some black (or possibly dark blue) material, probably enamel, partially surviving in four of the other ovoids though it is unclear if this is contemporary with the other enamel found on the tag. In similar examples the tag is enameled with only the pale green colour rather than a number of different colours.
Some traces of gilding remain on the central stem, as well as on the outer edge of the loop and also on the reverse of the attachment knops. The eye loop is rectangular in plan with a 'D' shaped cross section, the back being flat. The eye loop represents 7.60mm of the total length. The loop has a width of 16.09mm and thickness of 2.35mm. The tag is probably 16th/17th century AD in date.
For a similar example see Wilt-BA0526. This same example is mentioned in Read 2008 p.172 no.646.