File:2011 T548, Silver annular brooch frame, bent (FindID 462393).jpg

English: An incomplete cast silver gilt hooked clasp clothes fastener with a missing hook, dating to the early Post Medieval period (c. 1500-1600 AD). In plan, the body of the fastener is formed from an equilateral triangle with rounded corners and serrated edges. The front face is decorated elaborately with three hemispherical domes configured in a trefoil arrangement within the angles of the triangle. The surface of each dome has a number of sub-spherical raised pellets, some of which are placed centrally within two raised, concentric, asymmetrically arranged circles. The number of pellets and their orientation within the three hemispheres varies: one hemisphere has four pellets, two of which are placed within circles; another has three pellets with two in circles; the last has two concentric circle groups but no pellets remain. The three recesses between the hemispheres are each occupied by a leaf from a separate silver plate which is held in place by a dome-headed pin. The pin passes through the centre, emerging through a circular hole on the reverse, where it is bent outwards. Half of the pin is now missing from an old break. On the reverse side parallel to one of the edges of the triangle, there is a silver loop with a rectangular cross-section that has been soldered onto the surface; opposite this in the apex of the triangle, there is a rectangular soldering 'scar' where the hook would have originally been attached. The reverse side is undecorated.

Dimensions: Length: 15.31mm Width: 16.17mm Thickness: 8.06mm Weight: 3.20g Discussion: A similar hooked clasp is shown in Read, Hooked Clasps and Eyes (2008) p73 No.239 which is dated to the early Post Medieval period. For PAS database parallels, cf. SUSS-0F6FD6 and LIN-33E686. Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.