File:Early-medieval lead-alloy brooch (FindID 403201).jpg

English: Incomplete lead-alloy disc brooch of probable 11th-century date. Just over half the brooch survives, with a deep crack in the middle. The surviving part measures 39 x 23mm and the original diameter was probably c. 39mm. It measures 7mm in height and weighs 7.6g.

The brooch has a stepped profile, with a narrow flanged beaded border. The centre is raised above this border, with an angled, undecorated area forming the step. The flat centre has relief decoration of a central boss surrounded by a double ridge, the inner slightly bolder. Springing from the outer ridge are two of what may have been an original four human faces, each contained within a drop-shaped ridge with the points towards the centre. The faces appear to be identical and have domed pointed-oval eyes surrounded by ridges, relief triangular noses and short straight ridges forming the mouth. If there were originally four faces, they would form a cross. The surviving two spaces between the faces are filled with a radiating pattern, perhaps three lines joined by oblique cross-ridges to form a broad ribbon of lozenge shapes. There are short radiating ridges around the edge of the central panel.

The reverse of the brooch has a hint of a swelling in the centre, but is otherwise undecorated. There are no surviving fixings, although the crack, which extends from the edge into the central panel between the two heads, has removed some of the edge.

This brooch was included by Weetch in her Type 13.D, disc brooch with stepped profile and facemasks (Weetch 2014, vol. 1, 94; no. 520, vol. 2, 43 and 156).

The other brooches of Type 13.D considered by Weetch (e.g. LIN-2666B7, NLM395) all have very schematic triangular facemasks with three dots, barely recognisable as faces; they are currently restricted to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (with one possible exception from Dublin, Weetch 2013 vol 2, 377, no. 21). There are failed castings from York (Mainman and Rogers 2000, 2475) suggesting that this may be the production centre. Type 13.D tends not to have any pin fixings, but the other examples (again, see particularly LIN-2666B7) have loops which may have been used for attachment to clothing.

Weetch points out that the two examples from York were found in 12th- to 13th-century contexts and the Beverley example ( her no. 514) is also from a late 12th- to 13th-century context (Tweddle in Armstrong et al 1991, 159), although she assigns the group an 11th-century date on the basis of other lead-alloy parallels.

Other similar examples on the PAS database (NLM-A6CCD1 and NLM-C02993) also have the schematic triangular facemasks, and are again from Lincolnshire, but were not included in Weetch's thesis. There is as yet no good parallel for this brooch's well-modelled faces.