LOT 2396

Large Tudor Silver-Gilt Floral Hooked Tag

1500-1600 A.D.

1 1/4 in. (11.9 grams, 32 mm).

Of Read's Class D Type 6, trefoil in plan with notched outer edges and a bifid knop to each angle; three applied bosses to the obverse, two with a central applied granule (the third absent); each dome with a pair of wire annulets containing smaller annulets arranged vertically, with a small granule at each junction (one granule absent); set between each pair of large annulets is a small wire annulet with granule cluster; central decorative rove with split shank, flattened on the reverse and with decorative hexafoil head, three pentagonal petals separated by smaller interstitial petals each with a triangular notch on the edge; on the reverse, two silver attachment elements have been soldered in place, a transverse rectangular attachment loop above and the end of a silver hook below (partly absent); some gilding remaining. [No Reserve]

Found near Lewes, East Sussex, UK, in 2023; declared as potential Treasure under the Treasure Act with Treasure reference no.2025T533, subsequently disclaimed and returned to the finder.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.SUSS-23C7ED.
Accompanied by a copy of the Treasure Act 1996 receipt from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

CF. Read, B. Hooked-Clasps and Eyes, Langport, 2008, nos. 264-70, 272.

This rather large example of a hooked tag fits with Read's (2008) Class D, Type 6 being a trefoil single sharp-hooked clasp of composite construction which he dates to the 16th century. Read illustrates a number of these in silver gilt, similar to the one recorded here, with three bosses and a splayed pin securing a petalled rove (p. no.s 264-70). Compare also no: 272 with projecting knops in each angle of the back plate. Other examples of this type recorded on the database and submitted for the consideration as Treasure include: KENT-B7A7B4 (2012T826); SF-034BF3 (2008T446); YORYM-708E7A (2023T221); NMS-6DE0F9 (2022T959) and ESS-491A58 (2022T941).