BROOCH

An incomplete copper-alloy plate brooch. The incomplete brooch has a central lozenge shaped plate with rounded corners. The two remaining points (one below the face and one on the left) of the lozenge have recessed circular projections. Other examples suggest there were propably originally four of these and they most likely contained enamel. In the centre of the plate is a projecting oval moulded into a face with transverse incised mouth, projecting nose, two small recessed eyes. The face is itself placed on a raised oval border. The rear of the central plate is hollowed and there are two rounded lugs which housed an axis bar for the missing pin on the larger projection (on the left when viewed from the front). This indicates that the brooch was worn with the pin set horizontally in order for the face to be upright. The brooch is 23.12mm in height, 23.20mm in width, 8.74mm thick and weighs 4.42g.
Date: Roman - 2nd century AD

Several similar brooches have been recorded on the database: DOR-C226B5, HAMP- 014D55, SOM-F6B841, NMGW-FABA51, WILT-4BF5B6, WILT-1617A7, SOM-397742 and NMGW-FC9E20. There are also examples in Hattatt (2000, 356; refs. 1276A and 1656). These examples are from Hampshire and Thetford, Gloucestershire, respectively. Rob Webley has created a listing of recorded examples on the Artefacts- Encyclopédie en ligne des petits objets archéologiques database - see http://artefacts.mom.fr/en/result.php?id=FIB-41483&find=%C2%A3%C2%A3%C2%A3&pagenum=1&affmode=vign