House of Lancaster ??

[robfinds]

I put this item on ebay yesterday in a lot of detecting finds. A little later a mate rings up and say's, that it may be a fairly good find. Say's he's seen one on the net described as, a medieval belt plate. The S being the symbol of the house of Lancaster. Needless to say I removed it from the lot on ebay (no one had bid yet). I originally thought it was fairly modern due to it being pressed copper. Any ideas ?.

 

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[Bramblefind]

What a great find! This may be what you friend recalled seeing before -

Rectangular Mount - UK Finds Database -

A rectangular die-stamped mount with central letter S and a beaded border. The two ends of the letter S terminate in an animal’s head with open mouth and protruding pointed ears (cf. UKDFD 2597). The mount has two rivet holes, arranged vertically, with surviving copper-alloy rivets.




Mounts of this type were often used on girdles (waist belts) and other straps, and were invariably applied in significant numbers, closely pitched, to create an overall decorative effect. Their use on other items, e.g. book covers, caskets and furniture, however, is also a possibility.




The letter S, and particularly strings of S's, are associated with allegiance to the House of Lancaster. For more details see discussion on UKDFD 2597.




Four similar mounts, found in a 14th century context and with pieces of strap attached, are recorded in the Kent archaeological journal, "Archaeologia Cantiana" 1979.

 

[nsdq]

S or is that a snake i see ?

 

[robfinds]

Many thanks Bramblefind, I searched all over the net, and could not find this. Your effort is very much appreciated.. This find came from a site that as given loads of medieval finds. It just didn't look of that age when I found it. Just goes to show, always more to learn. Cheers Robert.

 

[diggummup]

S or is that a snake i see ?

Kind of looks like a serpent head on both ends to me.

 

[robfinds]

Kind of looks like a serpent head on both ends to me.

True they've got to be animal heads.

 

[CRUSADER]

Some of these 14th C examples are also pilgrim related, like the 'W' for Walsingham.