Details

LOT 1291

Bronze Age Spectacle Brooch

8TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.

5 1/4 in. (84 grams, 13.3 cm).

Comprising a pair of opposing wire coils decreasing in thickness from edge to centre, a figure-of-eight to the centre; integral pin and catch-plate to the reverse. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the family collection of a Surrey gentleman since before 1960.

Literature

Cf. Bietti-Sestieri, A.M. and Macnamara, E., Prehistoric Metal Artefacts from Italy (3500–720 BC) in the British Museum, London, 2008, fig.615, for similar; Hambleton, J.M., Fibulae of the ninth through seventh centuries BC in Central Italy, Florida, 2008, fig.2-2b.

Footnotes

The spectacle fibula was widely distributed from the Balkans and northern Greece to southern Italy. Seven variations occur under this type with modifications made to the discs of the fibulae as well as the central connecting device. In the first and second variations
(variant 2-2b of Hambleton, the type here), the discs are coiled, whereas in the third and fourth the centre of the coil is left open. The figure eight loop also becomes shorter and wider in the fourth variant.