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STRAP END
Unique ID: HAMP-120BDA
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
A finely made silver gilt strap end of late Medieval (c14th century) date, 27.6mm in length. Both sides of the object are elaborately decorated with pictorial panels of fabulous beasts. The front has a long-necked hybrid beast or gryllus standing left, with two hind legs and a feathery downward-hanging tail visible at the rear and a long neck, with a human face and hair at the front, curving up and back to the right over the creature's back. The front of the body and base of the neck are shrouded in drapery and there is a fine hatched background behind the head. The top of the panel has a trefoil pointed arch in gothic style. The panel on the reverse is rectangular, with a dog or hound displayed with rear end, legs and tail in the lower left corner and the head at the top in the middle. These elements are connected and partially concealed by drapery. The background of the design comprises a mosaic of diamond elements with small punched dots to their centres.
The terminal is rounded with a small pointed projection at the centre and the rear end retains two in-situ domed silver rivets. The interior of the object is hollow and retains preserved fibres from a cloth belt. Around the sides are faint seams demonstrating that the strap end is of composite construction, with front and rear panels being separately made and soldered to a spacer plate. Traces of gilding remain on the surface of the object, however this has mostly now worn away.
Length: 27.6mm; Width: 12.3mm; Thickness: 3.8mm; Weight: 4.08g
Notes:
This form of strap end is widely paralleled in copper alloy examples (e.g. Egan and Pritchard (2002) fig 93) and broadly dated to the mid-14th to mid-15th centuries. Examples made from silver have been recorded on the database and reported under the 1996 Treasure Act, including undecorated examples such as SUSS-66D2D3 (2018 T330) and WAW-DA2185 (2019T135) and much rarer decorated examples also depicting beasts such as DOR-764B4D (2017T625). The style of decoration is comparable to mythological beasts featured in the margin illustrations of illuminated manuscripts of the 14th century.
Find of note status
This is a find of note and has been designated: County / local importance
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: Hampshire Cultural Trust
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2021T843
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1300
Date to: Circa AD 1400
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 27.6 mm
Width: 12.3 mm
Thickness: 3.8 mm
Weight: 4.08 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 14th October 2021
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Treasure case number: 2021T843
Materials and construction
Primary material: Silver
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Hampshire (County)
District: East Hampshire (District)
Parish or ward: Worldham (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SU7438
Four figure Latitude: 51.13649984
Four figure longitude: -0.94370312
1:25K map: SU7438
1:10K map: SU73NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egan, G. and Pritchard, F. | 2002 | Dress Accessories, c.1150-c.1450 (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London) (2002) | London | HMSO |
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Timeline of associated dates
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