Rights Holder: Colchester Museums
CC License:
Our images can be used under a CC BY attribution licence (unless stated otherwise).
Unique ID: ESS-B36912
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
Incomplete Late Saxon copper alloy disc brooch of the late 10th or 11th century. This brooch is circular in plan. Around its circumference is a flange, set at 90 degrees to the main body of the brooch, with six circular recessed lobes. Four of the six lobes hold a globular blue glass setting. The main body of the brooch has high sides, recessing it for the central decoration. This central decoration survives intact and takes the form of an equal five-armed star set at the centre of the circular field. Within the hollow of at least two arms of the star and the surrounding background is set dark blue enamel. One arm of the star is missing its setting and the other two seem to hold partial remains of enamel, white in colour. The decoration is termed cloisonné, in that each piece of enamel sits within a cell formed from copper alloy 'walls'. Gilding partially survives on the flange wall and to the reverse of the brooch. The reverse of the brooch is otherwise plain. The pin bar lugs are missing but the catchplate seems to be intact though it is obscured with corrosion product. The pin is entirely missing. The exposed copper alloy surfaces of the brooch are abraded and the original surface no longer survives. The areas are now light green in colour. The brooch has a diameter of 26.16mm, is 5.1mm thick and weighs 4.86g. David Buckton's 1986 article 'Late 10th and 11th century cloisonné enamel brooches' (in Medieval Archaeology volume 30, pages 8-18), discusses the various designs of this type of brooch. Though an exact parallel is not mentioned, it is clear that the brooch recorded here belongs to an established tradition of cloisonné brooch decoration that has a predominantly south-eastern distribution.
Class:
cloisonné enamelled (Weetch Type 20)
Sub class: Saunderton type (Weetch Type 20.A)
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 950
Date to: Circa AD 1066
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 5.1 mm
Weight: 4.86 g
Diameter: 26.16 mm
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference: ID 4065
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Enamel
Completeness: Incomplete
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buckton, D. | 1986 | Late 10th and 11th-century cloisonne enamel brooches | 8-18 |