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DRESS FASTENER (DRESS)
Unique ID: SUSS-E3FC95
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Loop part of a two part cast copper alloy dress fastener of Post-Medieval, seventeenth century date (AD 1600 - AD 1700). The fastener is flat and piriform (drop shaped) in plan with an integral loop at the wider end; the loop is broken on the outer edge and the inner edge curves down on each side to meet at a centre point, flanking this point the border on the main plate curls inwards, continuing the curves. At the widest point there are integral perforated knops, one each side, which would have been used to sew the clasp onto clothing, one is broken. The end opposite the loop is broken with an old break which has removed the terminal and about a quarter of the plate; from parallel examples the terminal would have had two more sewing holes flanking a scallop shell shaped knop projecting from the pointed end.
The front of the fastener is decorated with a raised design, featuring a probable bust flanked by two pellets with a piriform loop above all within a raised border. This design has been identified as a bust although it can also resemble a winged insect. In the low level fields, created by the raised design the object has been enameled. Traces of white and light greyish-green enamel survive. The rear face is flat and plain. Read (2008, p178, no.679) illustrates an identical fastener which he dates to the 17th century.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1600
Date to: Circa AD 1700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 26.9 mm
Width: 24.5 mm
Thickness: 2.5 mm
Weight: 4.4 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 1st March 2007
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Enamel
Manufacture method: Cast
Decoration style: Figurative
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with enamel
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: East Sussex (County)
District: Wealden (District)
To be known as: Willingdon & Jevington
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read, B. | 2008 | Hooked-Clasps and Eyes | Langport | Portcullis Publishing | 178 | 679 |
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Timeline of associated dates
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