File:Roman, Plate brooch (FindID 718883).jpg

English: An incomplete Roman Umbonate plate brooch (100-250 AD) made of copper alloy. This fragment comprises just over one quarter of the original disc plus one of the projecting lugs. The face of the brooch is highly decorated. There is a ridge running around the circumference of the brooch. Then working towards the centre, an incised band containing a brown/red material which may be enamel, followed by another, less prominent, raised band. Inside that the decoration is made up of a series of cells which resemble the petals of a flower arranged around a circle. The cells once contained enamel. Inside the petal shape this now appears green. In the triangles between the petals and raised band there is a brown/red material that may also be enamel. The very centre of the brooch appears to have been circular but it is difficult to say anything more as this is where it is broken. The plate is slightly domed.

The surviving projecting lug is circular in cross section. There is a raised bead of copper alloy on the circumference of the brooch where the lug joins the plate. Running along the face of the lug is an incised groove containing more of the brown/red material that may be enamel. The lug terminates in a round knop with a flattened end.

On the reverse a ridge runs along the back of the projecting lug and continues onto the plate. This may be the remains of a catch plate for the brooch pin. The ridge does not run straight but has a kink where the lug joins the plate. Looking from the front, the lug does not appear to project straight/at a 90 degree angle from the plate. It is possible that it has been bent to one side.

Other than the enamel work, there is no evidence for surface decoration. The brooch has a consistent light green patina. The edges of the disc where the brooch is broken irregular in shape and worn. This fragment measures 20.78mm wide including lug x 13.62mm x 4.31mm thick in total. The projecting lug is 11.43mm in length from bead to knop. The radius of the plate is estimated at 9.10mm. It weighs 1.73g.

Similar brooches are already recorded on the PAS database. LVPL680 and LVPL659 appear to have the same petal like decoration, although it is described in both cases as dots. Hattatt (2007) has also published examples with the same petal decoration, see figure 209, page 350 numbers 1065 and 131. However, no parallels for the projecting lug have been found. Most of these brooches seem to have small knops or round flat lugs.