File:Early Medieval, Asymmetrical Ansate Brooch (FindID 546305-445103).jpg

English: A cast copper alloy Ansate style brooch, possibly an asymmetrical variant form possibly of continental production dated to the later early Medieval period c. AD 700 -900 / 8th or 9th century AD. The brooch is remarkably well preserved being irregular in plan and bowed in profile; the cross section varies along the length. The head of the brooch is a rectangular shape with a small rectangular aperture on the mid point of the upper edge (5.3mm x 1.2mm). The reverse has two D shaped pierced projections which would have held the axis bar / spring / pin in place. The axis bar is present being formed from a length of copper alloy wire (1.6mm diameter); the spring, pin are lost. Below the head of the brooch the curved bow descends - this has a high arc and is D shaped in cross section. The base of the bow extends to a lozenge (diamond) shaped foot. The reverse face of the foot has a large and robust integrally cast catchplate which has been rolled over to form a U shaped pin rest.

The brooch is decorated with a combination of different styles; some of which are cast - others incised. Both the head and foot of the brooch are decorated with similar designs comprising simple external incised borders with a diagonal / rope like pattern. The bow of the brooch is decorated with a cast design consisting of two opposing cast animal masks conjoined at the mid point. These masks consist of triangular pointed ears, large oval projecting eyes (bug-eyed) a wedge shaped nose and mouth formed by transverse ribs.

The brooch is generally mid green in colour, with a well preserved surface patina that is slightly milky in places. There is no active corrosion present and the brooch has not been abraded in the soil.

The brooch measures 55.1mm in length,17.9mm in width and 20.1mm thick. The headplate measures 18.1mm in width, 13.1mm length and is 7.5mm thick. The pin lug projects 4.4mm behind the back of the brooch. The central bow is 9.6mm wide and 6.7mm thick. The foot measures 18.6mm in length, 18.0mm width and 10.4mm thick. The catch plate projects 7.4mm from the back of the brooch. The brooch weighs 16.94 grams.

Ansate brooches are found on the Continent in contexts dating from the 7th to the 10th centuries AD, but in England they appear to be confined to the 8th and 9th centuries. About 160 ansate brooches have been recorded on the PAS database, most from Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The brooch has been analysed by Pieta Greeves at Birmingham Museum Trust using X-rays and XRF. This has produced the following results:

The XRF anaysis showed that the brooch is formed of an alloy of Copper (Cu), Tin (Sn) and lead (Pb) with no sign of zinc (Zn). The x-rays show little detail as their is lead in the alloy which gives such a poor image.

Images of the brooch were sent to the following specialists Rosie Weetch, Kevin Leahy, Justine Bayley and Barry Ager:

They comment:

Kevin Leahy

I agree with Rosie, fitting does look like the sort of thing we see on Ansate brooches but I was unable to find anything that looked like this find in Hubener's 1972 study but things move on. The problem is that so few of our sources show the fittings on the backs of these brooches; a lesson to us all.

Rosie Weetch:

What a curious brooch, not quite like anything I have seen before!

Following on from Justine's and Kevin's comments, the pin-fitting can help us here. It is not quite right for a small long brooch (those tend to have a single pin-lug, although there some double-lugged examples this also seems to be the case for asymmetrical Frankish brooches), however it is what you would expect to see on an ansate brooch (double 'H-shaped' pin lug).

I also think the moulding on the bow of the brooch is best paralleled within the corpus of ansate brooches on the Continent, a number of which that have similar cast bulging 'eyes' and transverse ribs. Further the length and width of the bow seem more similar to ansate brooches - earlier bow brooches tend to have shorter fatter bows.

The main issue with this is that ansate brooches normally have symmetrical terminals and obviously this one does not, and the perforation is a bit strange (but I presume this is a later modification?). I think I remember seeing a number of asymmetrical ansate brooches in Thörle's catalogue

So it is tricky: some features seem ansate-y others not. My hunch, pending further probing into Thörle's book, is that this is an asymmetrical variant of an ansate brooch (based on the form of moulding on the bow).

Justine Bayley commented on the metallurgy:

A thought - metal analysis might help with the date as an early Saxon object would most likely be a quaternary alloy (Cu/Sn/Zn/Pb) while bronzes (Cu/Sn±Pb) are more usual in Middle Saxon and insular metalwork and brass (Cu/Zn) or at least zinc-rich alloys only become common from about the 9th century onwards. But note this data reflects the position in the British Isles so if it is from elsewhere the same patterns may not apply. Note also that there are always exceptions to all general trends, but if you've got nothing else to go on it might at least point you in the right direction.

Notes:

This record was originally created by Mr Michael Byard from a rally description by Anni Byard. The artefact was subsequently brought to Peter Reavill for further detailed recording.

Thanks are extended to all those above for commenting and anaylsing the brooch