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Ornamental Brooch

c. 100–300 CE
bronze and champlevé enamel
Overall: 5.3 x 5.3 x 1.6 cm (2 1/16 x 2 1/16 x 5/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.230
Location: 106A Migration Period & Coptic
Public Domain
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Description

These brooches functioned as garment clasps (much like the generally larger fibulae) and are distinctive for their decorative enamels. The art of enameling was highly popular among the conquered peoples who lived on the outskirts of the Roman empire, chiefly the Celts and the Gauls. Though the enameling technique was practiced by the Romans themselves on small objects, the brightly colored decoration readily appealed to "barbarian" taste. By the AD 200s, enameled brooches like these were being made in abundance by the native peoples of Britain and Gaul (modern France and Belgium).
Ornamental Brooch

Ornamental Brooch

c. 100–300 CE

Gallo-Roman or Romano-British, Migration period

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