Any ideas????

[johnus brummieus maximus]

I think it is off my 1975 5 door ford fiesta hatchback it appears to me like a water pump cover.

[Meatslicer]

Looks like a mole to me, creature of the underworld and all that.

The head is very deeply cast so is probably quite late and maybe pressed bronze or brass.

What does the surface feel like? Is it flat and smooth or rough and hard feeling. If its rough it is probably brass. What kind of ground was it in? clay or loam? Clay would probably corrode this quicker so it means it isnt that old. If it was loam it could be hundreds of years old.

There is iron corrosion around the rivets so a spur buckle is likely, rather than a belt which would be of the same material.

Mind you, I have only been right once in a year!

Eric

[Chef Geoff]

Definitely not pressed as the shape has a return on it so it had to be cast, colouration and patina would suggest bronze rather than brass. Finds burried in clay actually last far longer, this is due to them being sealed from the air.

[waltonbasinman]

I think it is off my 1975 5 door ford fiesta hatchback it appears to me like a water pump cover.

[The Doc]

I think it is off my 1975 5 door ford fiesta hatchback it appears to me like a water pump cover.

I like that idea as well - wouldn't it be great if many of the bits and pieces of modern life were zoomorphic 

[Meatslicer]

I reiterate my record as far as id's go.

I have found brass items that are corroded just on the surface, found in clay, there seems to be a very fine reaction between the clay and the surface only. when washed the surface feels like very fine sandpaper.

Bronze in clay also seems to react on the surface but the surface when washed feels soft and smooth. The longer it is in the clay, the softer the bronze feels and the surface becomes almost dusty.

I can see what you mean about the return, under the head exterior molding. there is a difference in the reverse of the molding between the head moulding and the rest of the strap. I wonder if the head was made separately and then the strap molded around it?

Just a thought, since i have been studying bronze casting. the back of the strap seems to have been surface moulded, but with the return and the depth of the head section, it would have been very difficult to surface mold that in say, sand.

Eric