Details

LOT 1254

Saxon Gilt-Bronze Saucer Brooch Pair

6TH CENTURY AD

1 1/4" (31 grams, 33-34 mm).

A matched pair of saucer brooches each with central boss and four recurved legs within a raised rim; outside, a band of zigzags and raised chamfered rim; the rim broad and everted; to the reverse, catchplate and ferrous lump from the pin. [2]

Provenance

From an old Canadian collection.

Literature

Cf. MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) items 2.36, 2.37, 2.38.

Footnotes

Saucer brooches are a Saxon dress accessory, normally worn by females in pairs at the shoulders to fasten a peplos-style dress. The present design with central running-legs motif is found on several examples from Oxfordshire (Cassington, Abingdon, Brighthampton) in the Asmolean Museum.

CONDITION