BOOK FITTING

An incomplete copper-alloy book clasp with lozengiform element and hollow attachment end, measuring 32mm in surviving length. The attachment end is largely missing, but one end survives showing that it was rectilinear and hollow. The reverse has an obviously broken edge, but the front appears to have a complete edge giving a straight narrow bar, suggesting that the front may have been openwork or perhaps broken at a deep decorative groove. This part of the object would have been attached to a strap on one cover of the book.

Beyond this is the lozenge, which measures c15mm by c15mm in size and is 6mm in thickness compared to the c3.4mm thickness of the rest of the object. It is decorated on its front face with a central circle with cross-hatching within it, all surrounded by an engraved square. On the reverse is a hole, now distorted, which would have fitted over a peg fixed to the opposite cover of the book. The distortion of the hole appears to have been caused by careless or rough handling while still in use on the book.

The base of the lozenge then tapers to a faceted waisted rectangular shaft which has longitudinal grooves along its sides. This represents a stylised animal head, and ends in an incomplete loop pierced from side to side. It is thought that this loop would have held a small ring (or cord loop) to help in pulling the clasp off the peg. All of the front pendant retains traces of gilding, and there are also smaller traces of gilding on the flat reverse.

There are several good parallels for this form of book clasp, e.g. HAMP-C0F9E7 (with further parallels cited). Fingerlin (1971) dates them to the second half of the 14th century, but her grounds for assigning such a narrow date-range are unclear.