File:Roman Zoomorphic (fish) Brooch. Drawing, Frank Basford (FindID 213872).jpg

English: An incomplete cast copper alloy and enamelled zoomorphic (fish) brooch of Roman date (c. AD 100 - c. AD 200). Length: 31.1mm; width: 9.8mm and 5.3mm thick. Weight: 2.26g.

The tail and most of the catch-plate is missing due to old breaks. The pin is also missing. The edges of the plate are incomplete, possibly due to corrosion.

The plate (1.2mm thick) is flat and not undulating like some other fish brooches. Along the upper edge are the stubs of a first dorsal fin and a second dorsal fin. On the lower edge are stubs of a pectoral fin and an anal fin. At the front, decoration is formed by a number of cells that would have all been filled with enamel. Along the centre of the body are six chevron-shaped cells pointing towards the head which become progressively smaller towards the tail. Beyond the smaller of these is a ‘lentoid’-shaped cell. No enamel has survived in any of these cells which probably represent scales. At each side of these cells, close to the edge of the body, is a curving marginal cell which is filled with green enamel, some of which is missing. This enamel is decayed and also crazed in places. Consequently, the colour may have been different originally. A semi-circular cell forming a gill is empty. The outer part of the circular eye is formed by a circular cell which is also filled with green enamel, also in poor condition.

The rear face is flat, except for the pin lug and catch-plate. The pin lug, at the tail end, is D-shaped as viewed from the side and has a length of 6.0mm and a width of 1.8mm. A circular perforation in the lug has a diameter of about 1.2mm and is filled with corroded iron, the remains of a pin (axis) bar or a spring. A stub of the catch-plate, at the head end, has a length of 5.0mm and a width of 0.8mm.

This brooch has a mid-green patina overall but is also corroded in places. The corroded areas are also patinated in the same colour.

Similar zoomorphic (fish) brooches have been recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. For example, see finds from Newchurch Parish, Isle of Wight (IOW-D68314) and Shorwell Parish, Isle of Wight (IOW-FC65F5).

A similar example, although undulating in side profile, has been recorded from the Lincs/Humberside border (Hattatt 1987, 244-47. fig. 77, ref. 1198). Hattatt refers to this example as a ‘Salmon brooch’.