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Description: | A damaged cast copper-alloy button brooch of early-medieval date (5th - 6th century AD). This example is incomplete in so far as it is missing its pin, although it is not unusual in this respect. The rim is upturned (H.: c. 3.0mm) and flares out at a slight angle. Part of the rim has been lost as a result of old damage. The upper surface of the brooch is decorated with a central chip-carved anthropomorphic face-mask viewed straight on, within a raised circular border. The 'helmet' is formed of a very shallow semicircle, basically a raised transverse line. The eyebrows and nose are formed of a single piece: each eyebrow is a arc which incurves to meet the other. The base of the nose tails off to the right when looking at the face conventionally orientated. Pellets form the eyes. Adjacent to, and below, each eye is a curved cheek. Below the cheeks and nose is a lop-sided downwards curving line: either a moustache or lip.
The reverse of the brooch has the remains of a pin lug uppermost, at 12 o'clock. This is surrounded by a large build up of orange-brown corrosion product (max. Th.: 8.7mm) - the remnant of the iron pin. At six o'clock is the subrectangular catchplate. They are therefore aligned down the length of the face. The brooch has corroded to a dull mid-green colour. Gilding has been lost on the highest parts of the face; it otherwise survives in the recesses. Other than the damage and losses mentioned the artefact survives well.
The brooch is tentatively classified as an Avent and Evison (1982, 84) Class Ei type. The mask has the general appearance of a Class E button brooch, with prominence given to the eyes and surrounding area, albeit the eyebrows and cheeks do not form a single element. | Subjects: | Button Avent and Evison Class Ei Anglo-Saxon | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Webley, Robert - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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