NHER 35418 (Find Spot record) - Medieval buckle from near Holt

1999. Metal detecting. Found near Holt.
Late medieval enormous 'lyre-shaped' buckle frame with integral plate. The plate is hollow, with a back, front and sides in one piece, and two iron rivets. The front has two black-letter initials on a horizontally grooves ground. They are slightly obscured by iron corrosion, but appear to read 'oc' or 'dc'. The letters are the right way up when the terminal of the strap-end is held downwards. There is a raised border all around, with four decoratively bevelled areas along the attachment edge. Below is a waisted area, then a transverse bar with two longitudinal grooves. In the centre is a pin hole with staining from an iron pin. The frame is pear-shaped; at the narrower end there is an openwork relief scrolly pattern to either side. The wider end has a lozengiform pin rest decorated with what may be a crude bearded human mask - two blind-drilled holes and a lot of whiskery lines. Similar to (S1) which she dates to the last quarter of the 14th century; the fashion lasted well into the 15th century.
See (S2).
A. Rogerson (NLA), 23 March 2000.