Hooked tags, Round, symmetric floral

Description

Dress accessory: Round hooks with symmetric floral design

Time period:9th to early 12th Century
Materials: Brass
Product Dimensions: 2.0 cm width x 3.5cm length

Further details:

A hooked tag (dress hook) of the Anglo-Saxon to early medieval period. It is sub-circular with two peripheral pierced lugs for stitching to a garment. Decoration consists of four open flowers radiating from the centre, in sunken relief and within a plain circular border. A shallow projecting angular collar at the juncture of the plate and hook.

Manuscript’s show examples of winingas wrapped spirally around the lower leg. Hooked tags of various types are often found just below the knees of skeletons; a pair of hooks were found below the kneecaps of a male skeleton in Birka grave Bj903, and similar bird or mask-like hooks were found at ‘Ryurik Gorodische’, near Novgorod, 9-10th century. Small silver hooked tags were found in a similar position in a 9th century burial at Winchester, England. The location of the hooks as found in the graves make it reasonable to assume that one of their functions was to hold up the winingas.

Original source: UK Detector Finds database Ref. No. 22284. These hooks were found in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Material- Copper alloy / cast and size of original fragments – 29mm x 20mm.

Sold as a pair.