Trumpet brooch with Celtic decorations
Price: on request
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Object number
AR3360-06
| Object: |
Trumpet brooch with Celtic decorations
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| Material: |
Bronze. Inlays made of silver.
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| Period: |
Mid to late 1st century AD. Roman Imperial period. |
| Description: |
The ancient brooch is a rare variant of the trumpet brooch type. It has a straight bow that is framed between raised ornaments. It merges into a bent head that widens and ends at the bottom with a round surface that held the hinge for the pin. What is outstanding about this fibula is the inlay on the top. It features silver tendrils that extend across the bow and head. The style of this work is unmistakably rooted in Celtic art. |
| Background: |
Hattatt recognized the rarity and importance of the fibula during his research on the piece for his books. In 1983 he corresponded with Dr. Simpson, who was working on Hull's corpus of British brooches at the time. He wrote "clearly a most important piece" and wanted to include the piece in what is now the canonical corpus for British brooches. This may be what the commentary on page iii of the Corpus refers to.
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| Dimensions: |
55mm long.
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| Condition: |
Pin, hinge and pin holder are missing. The bow is in very good condition, especially the inlays are in excellent condition. Noble dark green patina. White inscription "1863" on the brooch. Includes original stand with inscription from the Hattatt collection.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us on the British art market in 2021. Exported under British export licence no. PAU/01443/22. Previously in the inventory of a British art dealer, acquired from the British collector Martin Schoyen. Mr. Schoyen purchased the fibula from the London antiquarian Bernard Quaritch. He bought it at the Christie's London auction on 7 July 1993, lot 72. Previously in the British private collection of Richard Hattatt, collection no. 1863. Acquired between 1970 and 1983. The brooch was found in Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, Great Britain. About Richard Hattatt: After retiring from the family business, Richard Hattatt devoted himself to collecting and studying antiquities. After a few years, focusing on the area of fibulae, one of the most important collections of ancient brooches from the region north of the Mediterranean emerged. In the years 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1989, four books were the fruit of a tireless analysis and work on the specimen in his collection. Those books are now regarded as standard works in the field of Iron Age and Roman brooches. When Richard Hattatt died in 1992, parts of his collection were already housed in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) and the Wiltshire Museum (Devizes). Other fibulae in the collection went to auction houses and into private collections. However, the enormous gain in knowledge through the systematic collecting activity, the drawings and the information consolidated by Hattatt has been preserved for posterity in his books. It is with the appropriate pride that we can offer you this fibula from Hattatt's collection and his books. |
| Publications: |
This fibula is published in a standard work for ancient brooches, Richard Hattatt, Iron Age and Roman Brooches (1985), pp. 110, fig. 46, no. 446. Note that the numbering in Hattatt's publications differs from the collection numbers written on the fibulae. The fibula is also published in the reference catalogue Richard Hattatt, A Visual Catalogue of Richard Hattatt's Ancient Brooches (1989), p. 327, fig. 186, no. 446. |
| Literature: |
As an alternative to the works of Hattatt we can recommend the following book as an introduction and for referencing: R. Heynowski, Bestimmungsbuch Archäologie 1, Fibeln (2012). |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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