BUTTON AND LOOP FASTENER

An Iron Age – Roman copper alloy ‘button-and-loop’ fastener (1st century BC – 1st century AD). The fastener is of Wild’s Class I (1970:137-8) and comprises two conjoined solid flat cast discs each 14mm in diameter and 3mm thick attached to a sturdy triangular loop. The fastener weighs 15.58g and has a stable dark olive-green patina; there is a small patch of reed-green corrosion at the top of the left-hand disc. Both discs are ornamented with cast (rather than incised) motifs which are symmetrical in their asymmetry. These comprise a series of reserved circular and crescentic zones interspersed with lunate and trumpet-shaped areas infilled with basket-hatching. The result is a minor masterpiece of edgy, off-kilter compression. Fasteners of this type are assumed to have an Iron Age ancestry, and are thought to date from the first century BC through to the first century AD. However, most, including the present piece, are stray finds without any independently datable associations. The decoration on this example borrows from a repertoire of motifs deployed on other objects such as mirror-backs, for example; and these latter items are usually dated to the first century AD. The function of these fasteners is open to question too though they are generally assumed to have held together ‘two pieces of fabric, leather or woven textile.’ Whether they were items of personal attire, or formed part of horse harness, remains unclear. Identification by Jon Cotton, Senior Prehistoric Curator Museum of London. Dimensions: Diameter of each disc: 14mm; length: 23.21mm; thickness: 3mm; weight: 15.58g.