HARNESS HOOK 601172

Description: An incomplete cast copper alloy hook, probably from medieval horse-harness. It consists of a rectangular attachment plate with a protruding, inward-curving hook, which is missing its tip. Overall, it measures 34.90mm long, 8.25mm wide and 13.25mm thick. It weighs 5.98g. The attachment plate is 17.35mm in length, 8.25mm wide and 3.75mm thick and is triangular in cross-section. On the reverse there is an integral copper-alloy rivet at each end, both sub-rectangular in section and curving slightly towards the top. At the junction between the attachment plate and the hook is a shallow ridge. The hook tapers from 7.65mm wide at this junction to 5.20mm wide at the break. It is D-shaped in cross-section, measuring 3.00mm in thickness. Its suriving length is c.18.50mm. The object is dark red-brown in colour with traces of green and lighter corrosion product. A comparable object, interpreted as a strap-end, can be seen in Egan and Pritchard's 'Dress Accessories' (1991, p. 155-6, no. 728), found in a context dated to 1270-1350. The large size of these hooks makes it probable that they were used on horse harness, and they are similar to a hook illustrated in Griffiths (1989), no. 14. Another example linked to a catch-piece can be seen at IOW-7184A4.

Date: 1270 - 1350

Object type: HARNESS HOOK

Last import: August 15, 2017