STRAP FITTING

Copper-alloy cast strap fitting, likely a sword belt hanger, dating to 15th century.

The item is fragmentary and shows the surviving left portion of the main plate. There is one surviving attachment loop and along the lower edge with a hook still in place through it. Originally there would have been three loops, spaced evenly, connected to the bottom edge, with a hook hanging from each.

The remaining left side of the plate ends in a trifoliate terminal, expanding from a narrow waisted portion of the plate. The central lobe is perforated in order to accommodate a rivet, which would have held the mount in place.

To the right of the lobed terminal and narrow waist, the plate widens on both the upper and lower edges. The widest point of the lower edge is where the attachment loop descends from. The plate becomes thinner again before ending at a break.

The attachment loop of a circular terminal with a large hole in the centre. Through this is a curved circular sectioned bar forming a hook which at one end has a spherical globular terminal and at the other a flattened plate which is broken. The original plate would have been longer and featured two rivet holes. The break occurred at the point at which the upper rivet hole was situated.

The front of both the upper plate and the hook plates are decorated with a foliate design and moulded in low relief. The reverse is plain and undecorated.

Dimensions: weight: 10.46g, width: 32.9mm, height of main plate: 28.8mm, height of hook attachment: 21.8mm, combined height of artefact: 45.3mm, thickness of main plate: 2.2mm