BUTTON

A copper-alloy post-medieval hexagonal button with a flat top and faceted sides which become vertical at the base. The top is decorated with a central flower motif of four small circles in a quatrefoil within a plain ring. From this central motif radiate six pairs of grooved lines which flank the angles between the facets and create lines along the sides of each facet. Circling the flat top, pairs of lines set at right angles to the radiating lines form an 'inner circle'. In the central cell of each facet is a scrolled motif of stamped Cs and annulets. The button has traces of gilding in the punched areas and a black lacquer coating on the front. The reverse is concave with a slight rim around the edge and an integral loop in the centre. The loop is intact and has a hole punched through it. The button is 24.38 in diameter and 6.18mm thick; it weighs 9.95 grams.

Similar buttons can be found illustrated in Read (2005, 46; no. 161; previously published in Read 1988; no. 983), and recorded on this database, e.g. LANCUM-D9CEB2, SOM-85AD97 and SOM-7ABDA7. Read (2005, 36) suggests they may have been used as cloak fasterners and date from the middle to the late 17th century.