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BROOCH
Unique ID: NMGW-5769D6
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
Annular silver stirrup brooch.
The external face is decorated for half its circumference with engraved transverse grooves inlaid with niello. There is no restriction in the frame for the pin which has a short stirrup at the junction of shaft and wrap around head. The stirrup is decorated with transverse grooves, and the facets of the shaft, which has a diamond cross-section, are engraved with diagonal grooves to create a herring-bone pattern from the front. The backs of the frame and pin are plain.
External diameter 24.2mm; inner diameter 20.01mm; maximum frame thickness 1.9mm; weight 2.98g. Surviving pin length 22.4mm (some of head missing); pin thickness 2mm; stirrup width 10.06mm.
The brooch has not undergone any cleaning or conservation.
Notes:
In terms of size and design, the brooch is of thirteenth- to mid-fourteenth-century form.
A number of brooches of this general type with frames decorated with niello are known to have been found in Wales. These include a larger brooch with similar decoration from Kidwelly Castle found during restoration work (Redknap 1994, no. 16); two silver brooches from Laugharne Burrows, Carmarthenshire, with transverse grooves inlaid with niello (ibid, Fig. 2, nos 9, 10); and one brooch frame from Glyn Tarell, Powys (TAR 2004, no. 495). A silver and niello brooch from Cardigan Community, Pembrokeshire, is of very similar size and design (Treasure Reference No. 15.35). Short 'stirrups' occur on niello-inlaid annular brooches from Cowbridge and Llanfaes (Redknap 1995, fig. 4, nos 13, 14).
Class: Annular silver stirrup
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2016TRW21
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 1.9 mm
Weight: 2.98 g
Diameter: 24.2 mm
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Treasure case number: 2016TRW21
Materials and construction
Spatial metadata
Region: Wales (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Blaenau Gwent (Unitary Authority)
District: Blaenau Gwent (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Tredegar (Community)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SO1207
Four figure Latitude: 51.75475171
Four figure longitude: -3.27628772
1:25K map: SO1207
1:10K map: SO10NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCMS | 2007 | Treasure Annual Report 2004 | London | Department for Culture, Medial and Sport | |||
| Redknap, M. | 1996 | Some medieval brooches, pendants and moulds from Wales: a short survey | Cambrian Archaeological Association |
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