Anglo-Saxon gilt bow brooch
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Object number
AR3344
| Object: |
Anglo-Saxon bow brooch
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| Material: |
Gilded bronze.
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| Period: |
Circa 530 AD to 570 AD. Towards the end of the Migration Period. Early Medieval. |
| Description: |
The fibula is an Anglo-Saxon variety of the bow brooch type. The eponymous bow connects the semi-circular head with the triangular foot. The top side of the brooch is elaborately decorated and gilded. On the bottom side was once and iron pin that is now completely coroded. There is still the bronze hinge and the pin holder.
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| Background: |
The brooch was made during a time in which Europe was reshaped after the fall of the Roman Empire. It is unsurprising that this Migration Period is also recognizable in novel styles, for example of the jewellery. The design of fibulae clearly breaks with earlier Roman and Gallo-Roman traditions. The new Gothic types spread quickly throughout Western and Central Europe during the Migration Period. With the settlement of Northern Europe by the Anglo-Saxons, local variants developed there.
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| Dimensions: |
37mm long. Circa 4.3g.
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| Condition: |
Pin and inlays missing. The rest of the body including the original gilt very nicely preserved.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2022 on the British art market. Exported under British export license no. PAU/01051/22. Previously in private British ownership. The brooch was found on 23 May 2015 on the Isle of Wight, Great Britain. The find was recorded and published in the national database Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), entry number IOW-92228F.
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| References: |
Similar R. Hattatt, Ancient Brooches and other Artefacts, p. 381, no. 1704. Similar R. Heynowski, Fibeln, p. 101, no. 3.24.3.2. |
| Literature: |
A superb and compact overview on the subject of ancient and later fibulae in general is given by R. Heynowski in his book "Fibeln - erkennen, bestimmen, beschreiben" (Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2012, German language).
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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