Strap end

Folded brass strip with twin bands of cording along the fold and the strap edge. The strip has a black coating on both faces and the inner face bears a scratched motif of radiating lines, three spots and an oval. The motif could possibly be seen as the child's rendition of a human face. This would have been for making a strap end (though this piece is unfinished). It was from a batch of unfinished buckles and matching belt-ends that was dumped in a well near Cheapside. The mass-produced, cheap fittings were made from folded and stamped brass sheet, which was probably imported from Nuremberg in Germany.