Details

LOT 0364

Anglo-Saxon Enamelled Bronze 'Quoit Brooch Style' Roundel Appliqué

5TH CENTURY AD

3 1/4" (59 grams, 79mm).

A cast flat-section circular plaque with bands of reserved ornament on a red enamel background; the central motif a hexagon with hexafoil to the centre, a band of Quoit Brooch Style profile animals in three confronted pairs, a band of radiating darts and perimeter band of alternating series of annulets and saltires; stud remains to the reverse and layout markings, including small, enamel filled piercings from where the design was set out onto the disc.

Provenance

Found St Mary Bourne, Hampshire, UK, January 2013; recorded with Portable Antiquities Scheme (reference HAMP-FFCDF4, printout included).

Literature

Cf. a Quoit Brooch Style plaque also from Hampshire in Ager, B. A Quoit Brooch Style belt-plate from Meonstoke, Hampshire in Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, vol.9, Oxford, 1996.

Footnotes

Quoit Brooch Style is the final decorative medium attributable to Roman workshops in south-east England and north-east France, in a style associated with Germanic troops. The decorative scheme typically comprises a frieze of quadrupeds seen in profile within bands of geometric and scrolled ornament. Its origins are in the Late Roman Military Style, and the use of red enamel also indicates manufacture by a 'Roman' workshop. However, enamel is otherwise unknown on such pieces, making the roundel unique as an example of Quoit Brooch Style metalwork but more closely linked to the (later) traditions of manufacture for hanging bowl mounts. The item has been inspected by the early medieval experts at the British Museum who note the unique use of enamel on a Quoit Brooch Style object, the stylistic links to northern Gallic metalwork and the lack of direct connections to the output of Romano-British enamelling workshops (other than the band of darts). The decoration has been cited as a 'missing link' between Romano-British and Post-Roman traditions, i.e. a Germanic-inspired artefact created using Roman workshop techniques. The find was declared Winner of The Searcher magazine's 'Most Significant Artefact' award, July 2014; a copy of the article is supplied with the item, as well as full correspondence documentation.

CONDITION