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LOT 0632

Sold for (Inc. bp): £364

ROMAN GILT BRONZE CROSSBOW BROOCH
CIRCA MID 4TH-EARLY 5TH CENTURY A.D.
2 7/8 in. (56 grams, 73 mm).

Three onion-knops and pierced decoration to the headplate, facetted bow and footplate with semi-circular cross-section, conjoined peltate border and geometric motifs to the centre, bow with geometric motifs and possibly facing human head; complete with pin and catchplate to reverse.

PROVENANCE:
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

LITERATURE:
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 1999.42, for a similar example; PAS DUR-57B5D5, in Leahy, K. and Lewis, M., Finds Identified II, London, 2020, p.30.

FOOTNOTES:
During the Late Roman period, these brooches were worn as marks of rank both by officers of militia armata and non armata, i.e. military and civilian officers.

CONDITION
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