This small but well made item was most likely a part of a larger object and was recovered from the Douglas Beach wreck site by Captain Richard Schmitt and the crew of the M/V Booy Quest. . It is a scallop shell - shaped object of pewter with radiating lobes extending from a central point. The central area is embossed with the letter "S". To either side of the central monogram on the bottom lobes, there appears to be an old fracture, again indicative of this having once been part of a larger object.

The object is reminiscent of a section of some of the more elaborate table settings/centerpieces that were popular during the period.

Figure: 18 - elaborate tableware from early 1700's (Important English and Continental Silver, Gold Boxes and Objects of Virtue)

It may possibly be a fragment of the tail of a peacock.

So far no other sections of this object have been found, so positive identification of its function or association with a larger object remains tentative.

It is a possibility that this item has some connection to the order of Santiago, a religious military group of Spanish Knights. Another item with scalloped shell shape was recovered from the Santa Margarita, a 1622 Spanish Galleon (see figure 19), the Margarita scallop shell was gold and had the symbol (a sword) of Santiago on it, as depicted in the drawings below. Perhaps the broken piece of this object would have also emblazoned that sword.