Romano-British Sandal Type Enamelled Bronze Brooch

£ 150.00

A finely cast Romano-British bronze skeuomorphic brooch in the form of a sandal, featuring orange enamelled decoration. Much of the original enamelling is still visible, confined by a narrow bronze border to the brooch’s edge. As is typical with this type, the top of the sandal is pointed. It has a well-preserved, original pin sitting in a horizontally placed pin catch, however the chain loop to the base is missing.

This brooch was found in Southern England.

Date: Circa 2nd Century AD
Provenance: From a Surrey gentleman's collection (DG), purchased on the London Art Market from an ADA member, formed 1990's onward.
Condition: Fine condition, covered with attractive green patination, with reddish-orange enamelling still visible to the surface. It has a well-preserved, original pin. Chain loop now missing.

SOLD

SKU: HL-404 Category: Tags: ,

Fibulae or brooches were originally used in Ancient Greece and in the Roman Empire for fastening garments, such as cloaks or togae. The fibula designs developed into a variety of shapes, but all were based on the safety-pin principle. Brooches modelled in the shape of animals have been vastly recovered across all the Roman Empire, including Roman Britain. The distribution of archaeological finds suggests that the major production centres for such ornamentation were Britain and Gaul.

Skeuomorphic brooches were designed in the form of other objects. Not as popular as the zoomorphic type, the sandal motif is amongst the most frequently seen example from this sub-group. They become popular around the 2nd century AD.

Weight 4 g
Dimensions L 4 x W 1 x H 0.5 cm
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Metal