File:Roman Zoomorphic Plate Brooch (FindID 558853).jpg

English: An incomplete copper-alloy zoomorphic plate brooch in the form of a fish, of Roman, second century AD date. The upper surface has been inlaid with blue enamel. The brooch has an incomplete length of 30.02mm with the tail having broken off leaving an irregular transverse break. The brooch is likely to have been cast. Depressed fields are present on the upper surface to become cells to contain the inlaid enamel. This brooch was designed to have a flat upper surface when all of the cells were filled with enamel however the plate has been slightly curved presumably to be more fish like.

The eye of the fish is formed from a circle of copper-alloy which is surrounded by a concentric circle of blue enamel. Surrounding the eye the head (apex end of the brooch) of the fish is formed of a solid field of copper-alloy that is triangular in shape. Behind the head is a semicircular cell now absent of any enamel which presumably represents the gill cover. It is uncertain what colour enamel originally filled this field. The edge of this cell is bordered by a solid curved line of copper-alloy. The edge of the body of the fish is bordered by a solid line of copper-alloy. The overall shape of the fish is a long sub-elliptical feather or leaf like form. The edge has three sub-triangular projections of solid copper-alloy. A single slightly backwards curving triangle is present on the edge of the brooch on what is the fish's back towards the tail end and this represents a dorsal fin. Directly below the dorsal fin, on the opposite edge of the brooch, on what is the belly of the fish is a slightly smaller backwards curving triangle with a slightly more rounded tip. This represents the anal fin. Towards the front of the belly, a short distance behind the gill cover, is the third triangular projection that is little more than a hint of a projection due to the slightness of it's size. This represents the pelvic fin. At the centre of the area behind the gill cover and between the edged back and belly of the fish is a shape almost mirroring the overall shape of the fish. It is formed of gently curving solid copper-alloy lines. This elliptical shape is connected to the solid curved copper-alloy line that borders the gill cover cell and has upper and lower edges that run almost parallel to the edge of the fish's body. The area between the edge of the brooch, upper and lower edges, this central zone and behind the gill cover is a cell that contains patches of surviving blue enamel. The tail of the fish has broken off just past the pointed tip of this central zone. The central zone is decorated by being infilled with alternating chevrons of solid copper-alloy lines and recessed cells set within each other. There are six copper-alloy chevrons. The apexes (tips) of these chevrons point towards the head. Behind the solid copper-alloy chevron closest to the tail a lozenge shaped cell is formed due to the tip of the shape of this central zone. No enamel survives within any of the cells of this central zone. This central zone represents the pectoral fin. The fish has a maximum height (from belly to back) of 10.42mm. The plate of this brooch has a thickness of 1.53mm.

The reverse side of the brooch is flat and undecorated. A single lug is present on the back of the brooch behind the rear fins starting just before the transverse break which removed the tail. The lug has a length of 5.83mm, thickness of 1.89mm and current height of 3.19mm. The top of the circular perforation, now infilled with mud and/or corrosion product, which would originally have allowed the, now missing, pin to be attached is very close to the top of the lug. This might suggest that the current height of the lug represents an incomplete original height. The closeness of the perforation to the upper edge of the lug could be the result of some of the upper edge of the lug having been worn or broken off. Alternatively the lug might have been mis-cast. The argument in favour of the lug having been mis-cast is reduced by the presence of the remains of enamel in some of the cells on the front of the brooch. The enamel would not have been applied to the brooch if the manufacturer deemed the mis-casting to have been to such a poor standard that the brooch would not have been able to be used. This does not rule out the possibility of the lug having been mis-cast as even a brooch with a slightly mis-cast lug would have been finished off and used if the mis-cast was not deemed to be severe enough to prevent use of the brooch. At the opposite end of the brooch, behind the head of the fish, is a catch-plate. The catch-plate starts directly behind the tip of the fish's head. The catch-plate has a length of 7.20mm, thickness of 1.20mm and height of 3.97mm with the tip curved over. This brooch currently weighs 2.28g.

See Hattatt, R. A Visual Catalogue of Richard Hattatt's Ancient Brooches. 1989, Oxbow Books, p.362, fig.221, no.1198.

For a labeled diagram of the parts of a fish see: <a href="http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&p=parts+of+a+fish">http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&p=parts+of+a+fish</a>