File:Roman zoomorphic brooch, reverse (FindID 108643).jpg

English: A cast copper-alloy Roman plate brooch of the zoomorphic type. Specifically, this is a good example of a three-dimensional sitting cock or hen. It takes the shape of an oval, pointed at one end with a protruding neck and head at the other. The reverse is hollow and features a broken catchplate at the head end and a double pierced lug at the tail end. The beginnings of a broken pin remain in the lugs, held in place by a crude copper-alloy penannular loop. Above this on the obverse are the beginnings of a flat tail, also now broken. Based on comparable examples the tail would have curved round to a point. Below the tail is a pierced projection which Crummy (1983, 15) suggests held a chain. The head at the opposite end is also flat. It features a long beak and a crest which has probably been abraded. The eyes are punched ring-and-dot motifs. The back of the bird is decorated with enamelling through the champlevé technique. The recesses create a median ridge which divides the patterning symetrically. Either side of the line is a field almost shield shaped. This features a pair of pointed loops; together these look like a butterfly. The outer field surrounding these loops appears to have been nielloed; the enamel within has been lost. Outside these fields, around the edge of the back, are a total of fourteen back-facing semi-circles/crescents, seven each side. Again, the foremost appears to have been nielloed, with the succesive recesses filled alternately with enamel and niello. Lying below these is an incised line which completely runs around the brooch. The brooch now has a green patina and features spots of iron corrosion. Examples of this brooch type can be seen illustrated in Crummy (1983, 15-16; ref. 75) and Hattatt (1985, 173-174; ref. 620); a number can also be found on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. The type has a wide distribution (Hattatt 1985, 173). As alluded to above, this is a particularly aesthetically pleasing example both in terms of its form and its decoration. Roman, 2nd century AD