BROOCH

Incomplete medieval copper alloy annular brooch, missing the tip of its pin. It is 36.4x35mm in diameter (internal hole 25mm diameter), D-shaped in section and flat on the underside. The pin is flat in section. The curved part of the brooch has been drilled with holes 2mm in diameter, one then a pair all the way around so the brooch is symmetrical along the pin line. There is a slight distance of undrilled brooch either side of the constriction for the pin. Egan and Pritchard, 1991, comment that drilled decoration on brooches does not necessarily suggest collets for stones or enamel (cf. no.1317 for similar drilled decoration). Indeed the surface below this example has tiny flecks of gilding, suggesting its intention was to show this. There are also tiny specks of gilding on the curving surface. The brooch is 2.9mm thick. The flat underside of the brooch appears to have a cut-out piece directly behind the line of the drilled decoration, presumably to add gilding to before replacing in the brooch. It is unclear how this has been fixed in place though traces of a shiny substance around the edges some kind of glue, or solder. The pin has a ridge below where it curls around the frame. Cf Egan and Pritchard no.1314 for the pin, and for a brooch of roughly the same size and shape. Comparable brooches such as those mentioned above are dated to the late 13th/ first half of 14th century. The brooch weighs 7.08g.