BROOCH

Early Medieval disc, probably from a disc on bow, great square headed brooch. The disc is made from gilt copper alloy and was decorated with cloisonne inlay, the stones are missing from the central and surrounding three cells which are in the form of conjoined trapezoids. One half of each of the cells contains a piece of grid-patterned gold foil, the other half containing patterned silver foil. The silver foils are set with the grid uppermost, the gold foils are face-down. The red material in the central cell is recent. Between the cells are panels of zoomorphic interlace each consisting of two, intertwined animals, their bodies made up of three-strand interlace. Each animal has a circular eye around which curves a rib which turns to form the neck. The mouths are beak-like. Each animal has a single leg with a shield-shaped hip with a raised central area surrounded by a rib. Springing from each of the hips is a three-toed foot. On the back of the disc is 3.0mm diameter x 4.4mm long, integrally cast pin. The object is thinly cast, the back of one of the cells is broken through and the there are cracks around the pin. Attached to the disc was a washer like fragment which is also gilded and probably represents part of the bow of the brooch. This had a diameter of 7.1mm and a thickness of 2.4mm. To either side of this small disc are the remains of the rib on the bow of the brooch. The edges of the fragment are broken. Diameter of disc 35.5mm, Thickness 1.8mm, Mass 9.89g

This disc can be paralleled by the disc on a brooch from the Buckland, Dover cemetery (Evison, 1987, Fig. 64.9). The Buckland brooch was silver gilt and the use, in this example of high-level craftsmanship on base metal is interesting.