Tudor Silver Saint James Double Scallop Shell Dress Mount
16th century A.D. A complete silver dress fitting or strap mount in the form of two conjoined scallop shells along one edge of a sub rectangular bar with sloping sides, the fitting with central perforation and two slender mounting lugs to reverse. British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme Database, record id. OXON-86C7C3. 1.24 grams, 12 mm (1/2 in.). Found whilst searching with a metal detector by Kevin Ford on 1st March 2019 in Chinnor, South Oxfordshire, UK.Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme Report (PAS) number OXON-86C7C3.Accompanied by a letter to HM Coroner for Oxfordshire from the Oxfordshire Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) with treasure reference number 2019 T648. The scallop shell was associated with St. James and the pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, one of the most important pilgrimage centres in medieval Europe. The scallop shell became the symbol for pilgrimage more generally in this period. It is an overtly Catholic symbol which could have been worn with freedom before c. 1540, or in the period of the Marian revival of Catholicism from 1553-1558. Pilgrimage to the shrine at Compostela from England would have been interrupted by the English Reformation. The PAS report notes that similar examples have been declared as treasure, including: KENT-FEE744 (2014 T641) and NLM-538148 (2010 T539), both dating to the 16th century A.D.