BROOCH

Two joining fragments making up nearly all of a gilded silver great square-headed brooch.The upper fragment consists of most of the headplate, the bow and a small part of the foot; the lower fragment consists of most of the rest of the foot.

The headplate is missing one corner.It has an outer frame with deeply punched triangles inlaid with niello, giving a zig-zag effect in reserved silver.The niello has mineralised to a silvery colour and it is only possible to see the triangle shapes where the inlay has fallen out.Between this and a simple inner frame of a niello-inlaid groove is a panel of Style I ornament, which appears to represent two quadrupeds in profile sharing a central head.On the reverse is a pair of pin bar lugs with the corroded remains of an iron pin spring.

In the centre of the lower edge the borders are interrupted by the springing of the gilded bow, undecorated at top and bottom.In the centre is a longitudinal rib inlaid with niello and a reserved silver zig-zag line in the same technique as the headplate frame.To either side is a sunken panel containing four longitudinal counter-relief ribs. This fragment is broken across the footplate upper borders, and the breaks are granular and old but probably not ancient. It measures 27 x at least 34mm, and weighs 10.72g.

The foot fragment was found subsequently, reported as 2008T479 and recorded as NMS-F29BC1 (which has summary information only). It has a lozenge-shaped frame inlaid with niello and a reserved silver zig-zag line, in the same technique as the headplate frame and bow centre.This follows the concave edges of the fragment except where it is interrupted by the side and terminal lobes.

Within the frame is a human face, apparently wearing a helmet or head-dress, with a pair of arms emerging from triple-strand shoulders either side of the helmet, bending at the elbow and ending in spread palms.The effect is that of a rude playground gesture and appears to be unparalleled in Style I art.The footplate side lobes consist of a concave moulding with two transverse bands of niello on the inner side and one transverse groove probably originally filled with niello on the outer edge. The terminal lobe consists of a concave moulding with two grooves above and two clearly defined grooves below, now missing any niello. The lappets, or footplate upper borders, are incomplete.They appear to have been openwork, with a curl in the centre against the footplate frame which may be a hip joint or the curling end of a jaw.At the top is a profile head, and at the bottom two crossing triple strands.It is difficult to say whether this represents an animal head with wide-open jaws and perhaps a tusk, or a complete profile animal. There is a thin, green-grey, rectangular scar flush with the surface on the reverse which is the only trace of the catchplate.

This fragment has granular breaks, appearing relatively fresh at one point. It measures 31 x 27mm and weighs 4.95g.

This, and the earlier piece together, do not complete the brooch. Most of one footplate upper border is still missing.The brooch is very small for a great square-headed brooch (estimated original length 62mm) and also very unusual in its decoration. The closest parallel that can be found is a 119mm long example from Gönningen in south-western Germany, which has the same central mask and limbs stretching out into the corners of the footplate inner panel and back to the top (Kühn 1974, 205, Taf. 33, no. 92).The decorative elements of the Gönningen brooch, however, form a less coherent whole and it seems likely that if the two are related, the Snetterton brooch would have served as the inspiration for the Gönningen brooch rather than the other way round. Apart from the Gönningen brooch, there are few parallels which can be cited, and it cannot be classified into any of Hines's Groups. Distant links to two small unclassified silver great square-headed brooches, from Chessell Down and Empingham I (Hines 1997, pl. 90) as well as to SF-6A9565,emphasise its unusual nature, and suggest that it is early in the great square-headed series, perhaps dating to 500-530.

This description and discussion were compiled with the help of John Hines.