File:Medieval hollow ended strap end (FindID 63676).jpg

English: Medieval, hollow ended strap end. Cast in one piece, this strap end is sub rectangular in plan and section. It is 37.16mm long, 26.14 mm wide, 5.22mm broad (remembering that it is hollow) and weighs 16.97g. To the end opposite the mouth of the strap end is recessed neck, with an oval slot, from which extends two prongs that are both broken. These would have continued into a decorative extension of the strap end that would have consisted of decorative openwork scrolls and such like, now missing. The breaks are worn smooth, suggesting that they occurred some time in antiquity.

The main body of the strap end is decorated with an incised design. This is worn, but appears to be a subrectangular border, within which is a further incised square border, within which is a final incised subrectangular border. There are traces of dark red paint or enamel and tiny traces of gilding. The prongs also have an incised design, which appears to be of a zigzag. The rear of the strap end is flat and plain. The two rivets of the strap end survive and are probably iron.

The surface of the strap end is slightly abraded and the over all patina of the object is dark brown. These strap ends are often referred to as ‘lyre shaped’ due to the nature of the decorative extension. They came into fashion at the end of the 14th century and continued to remain so for the whole of the 15th. See The London Museum Medieval Catalogue, 1967, figure 85, number 1.