Latchet (BM 1854,0714.97)

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The Dowris Latchet is a bronze buckle from the 6th or 7th century, decorated with enamel , probably a dress clasp. The object was found in 1850 northwest of Doorosheath ( Dowris , Irish Dúros ) in County Offaly in Ireland .

In 1854 the piece was acquired by the British Museum in London (inventory number 1854,0714.97). It has also been repeatedly shown outside the British Museum in exhibitions about the Celts , for example in 1998 in Tokyo or in 2016 at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinborough .

description

The clasp consists of a larger disc that is attached to a Z-shaped central part that forms two slots. It continues on the other side in a serpentine shape in a hook, the end of which is designed as a small disc.

The surface of the object is enamelled red on the front with incorporated spirals.

It could have been worn in pairs. There are similarly shaped specimens in the British Museum that still have their spring-like wire coils. These could have been pushed through clothing or sewn on. The clasp is the end point of a development at which the serpentine curved part can still be seen, but has fused to form a compact central piece with two holes.

This type of bronze clasp from the 6th or 7th century is unique to Ireland.

further reading

Web links

  • Latchet (BM 1854.0714.97) , British Museum, Collection online (scientific description and illustration); accessed January 5, 2018.

Remarks

  1. ^ "Castle Island" near Dowris is given in the literature as the place of discovery, see: Lloyd Laing: The Archeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland: C.AD 400 - 1200 , Cambridge University Press 2006, p. 151 above and Rupert Bruce- Mitford / Sheila Raven: The Corpus of Late Celtic Hanging-bowls. With an Account of the Bowls found in Skandinavia by Sheila Raven , Oxford University Press 2005, p. 510 (Fig. 758). Castle Island was in Lough Coura, which was drained around 1850, and administratively belongs (e) to the townland of Whigsborough
  2. ↑ a b c Latchet , British Museum, Collection Online, Description; accessed on January 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ 'Latchet' dress fastener (BM1854,0714.97), Google Arts & Culture ; accessed on January 16, 2018.
  4. ^ Susan Youngs, Ian Mathieson Stead: Celts , British Museum Press, London 1996, ISBN 9780714121024 , p. 42.
  5. ↑ In the bibliography of the British Museum ( BM 1854, 0714.97 under Curator's comments ) volume number XXVIII is incorrectly given here.