BROOCH 929524

Description: An incomplete Roman cast copper alloy developed T- shaped brooch, hinged, dating to cAD 50 - 150. It has cylindrical wings, the right hand one with its outer tip broken away at an early date. The hinge of the pin still lies within a rectangular pin hole but the pin is entirely missing.The end of the wing which survives intact is decorated with three semi circumferential grooves. The bow is D shape in section but on the underside is a wide longitudinal hollowed section which tapers in concert with the bow itself. On the outer surface, the upper part of the bow is stepped out from the wings, the straight edge thus formed being one side of a rectangular feature, bordered on two sides by Raised ridges and, on the lower side, by a transverse ridge with grooves either side. The centre of the feature is a raised pillow moulding. Below this, the central section of the bow is decorated with three lozenge shaped cells surrounded by a raised margin with extensions at the angles. Each now contains a brownish material, the central one with, in addition, a clear crystalline substance.The lower part of the bow is decorated with a single longitudinal ridge, a transverse line just above a rounded forward facing scalloped foot. A sub triangular catchplate, pin curl missing, is placed centrally along the inside of the lower bow. Dimensions: length 40mm; width 23mm; 6.51g. cf Hattatt (2007) p 303, fig 162, no 908 or 28 for a similar brooch with identical decorative cells.and similar additional features. Note: Hattatt's example has an integral head loop, as do many other brooches of this type and it is possible that the 'step' described above is the broken base of sucha loop, although there is no obvious sign of that. This type is usually dated to cAD 50 - 150 but Mackreth indicates some examples as coming from later than this.

Date: 50 - 150

Object type: BROOCH

Last import: September 22, 2022