Identifying strap ends

The decorated tips of belts and straps, from Roman to Tudor.

A strap end stiffened and decorated the hanging tip of a belt or garment strap. Roman examples include amphora-shaped and lancet forms; Anglo-Saxon and Viking-age strap ends are often split at the attachment end with rivets and fine interlace or animal ornament; medieval ones can be simple folded sheets or composite forms with a knop at the tip.

The attachment tells you a lot: a split end with two rivets suggests early medieval; a folded sheet with a single rivet is often later. Ornament style — interlace, zoomorphic heads, engraved foliage — is the main dating tool, and even fragments retain it.

Photograph both faces and the rivet end. These small objects carry some of the best portable art of their periods, so raking light across the decoration is worth the effort. Note length, width, and metal, and describe the ornament plainly: 'two-strand interlace' beats 'Celtic-looking'.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on metalwork

Identifying harness and horse fittings — Pendants, mounts, and buckles.

Identifying weights — Standardised mass, marked.

Identifying keys and locks — Bit, bow, and stem.

Identifying pins and needles — Head form and point.

Identifying mounts and fittings — Rivets, solder, and back.

Identifying buckles — The commonest metal-detecting find after coins — and surprisingly datable.

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