DRESS HOOK

Silver gilt dress-hook with a quatrefoil-shaped back-plate cut from a sheet, to which (on the reverse) a separate hook and bar loop had been soldered (now missing; the attachment scars are visible). Each petal bears a hollow boss, each bearing three filigree circlets (each encircling a single pellet, centrally placed). A silver hexafoil, not gilded so that it contrasts with its support, is fastened by silver wire, which passes through a central perforation and is then bent in opposite directions. Gilding extends to the back. Maximum width of back-plate 20mm; boss height 4.2 to 4.8mm; weight 3.9g. The dress hook has not undergone any conservation. Other forms of dress hook are now known from Wales, such as one with a quatrefoil backplate from Llanhennock, Monmouthshire (Treasure reference no. 11.02) and a box form dress-hook from Carew, Pembrokeshire (08.10). The latter is paralleled by examples from Chelsham Court Farm, Chelsham, Surrey (Gaimster et al 2002, 166 no. 8), and Arreton, Isle of Wight (Treasure Report 2005-6, nos 656). Trefoil versions include those from Wentlooge, Monmouthshire (Treasure Annual Report 2007, 332) and Shillington, Bedfordshire (Treasure Annual Report 2005-6, nos 643). Documentary evidence indicates that these items were popular in the sixteenth century (the latest reference in an inventory being dated 1598; Gaimster et al 2002, 184).