Identifier: artsinearlyengla03brow (find matches)
Title: The arts in early England
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Brown, G. Baldwin (Gerard Baldwin), 1849-1932 Webster, A. Blyth (Adam Blyth), 1882-1956 Sexton, Eric H. L. (Eric Hyde Lord), 1902-1980
Subjects: Art Architecture Architecture, Medieval Church architecture Crosses Decoration and ornament, Celtic Inscriptions, Runic
Publisher: London, J. Murray
Contributing Library: Wellesley College Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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pommels. Now this couldnot apply to the very large plated iron buckles already referredto (p. 174) because these are later in date than the bronzebuckles in question, but it is quite possible that smaller andsimpler iron buckles, such as PL lxxv, 3, were commonly wornat an earlier period and set the fashion for the bronze ones,while being of a corrosible material they may have perished inlarge numbers and so may partly explain the curious gaps inthe inventories of tomb furniture to which attention has beencalled. Certain adjuncts of the buckle have been referred to (p. 347).The most important of these is termed sometimes the com-plementary plate. It consists in an addition on the otherside of the buckle ring of a second plate correspondingin size and shape to the buckle plate proper. This wasfastened to the belt quite independently of the buckle, andfastened too by the same sort of permanent attachments, butin such a position that when the free end of the belt was LXXIV facing p. 357
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ADJUNCTS OF THE BUCKLE 357 passed through the buckle ring and drawn up tight, the com-plementary plate would come close up to the latter. Indeedas will be seen by reference to the large buckle at FribourgPI. xvni, 1 (p. 177), or the Brussels buckle PI. lxxiii, 3, theedge of this plate is indented so as to allow the end of thetongue of the buckle that projects beyond the ring to fit intoit. It is rather puzzling to see how this arrangement wouldwork in practice, as it precludes any temporary adjustmentof the fastening of the belt with a view to loosening ortightening it. The lady could never have taken in herwaistband when she smartened herself up to receive callers,nor could her lord have let his out a hole or two after oneof those huge meals, which the more delicately bred Romanprovincials like Sidonius Apollinaris could not stomach. Thiscomplementary plate might have been made to slide backwardsand forwards on the belt to allow for such adjustments, butas we have just seen it was fi

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