Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch

5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/4 in. (80 grams, 82 mm).

Displaying chased panels populated with Style I zoomorphs and geometric forms, borders of annulets, raised masks to the upper corners of the headplate; applied discoid boss to bow decorated with a rosette, addorsed beast heads below; extensive remains of gilding; pin lug and catchplate to reverse and remains of ancient repair, lower part absent.

Provenance

Cambridgeshire collection, 1990s.

Literature

Cf. National Museums Liverpool, accession number M6004, for a similar Jutlandic example; Hines, J., A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches, London, 1997, item 86(a), for the applied disc, 85(c), for headplate masks.

Footnotes

The fractured lower edge shows signs of an ancient repair using a separate panel of sheet bronze pinned to the reverse.

CONDITION

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LOT 0327