Heading: Anglo Saxon Bronze Brooch - Cloisonne Enamelled Disc AD1000

Material: Bronze and glass enamel

Period: Anglo Saxon

Date: AD 1000-1100

Origin: Western Europe including Britain

Condition: Fine, attachment mechanism missing as are the majority of lugs, but the enamelling and cloisonne work is excellent

Description: A circular bronze brooch decorated using the cloisonne technique, with a central motif of four lobed petals flower of white enamel on a background of alternating blue glass cells.  Two lugs remain, but the attachment mechanism has long since perished.

Size and Weight: 21mm, 5.26g 

References: cf. Hattatt’s ‘Ancient Brooches’ p345

Features and Provenance: Ex Apollo Art Auctions, London

Brooches as clothes fasteners have been made since the bronze age. As skills and metallurgy advanced, so did the size and detail of the fibulae. They were still used by the Romans and Anglo Saxons as buttons had yet to be invented. This type of brooch was an adapted plate brooch and their ornamentation indicated a degree of affluence by the wearer and their delicate structure points at them being used on equally delicate, expensive fabric.

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Code  RNC555