anglo- saxon giant large hybrid cruciform brooch 010404

ANGLO-SAXON GIANT 'LARGE HYBRID' CRUCIFORM BROOCH
Copper alloy, 160 grams, 181.52 mm, 7.16 inches. Circa 6th century AD. A large, very fine quality, unique hybrid type brooch based on the cruciform and square-headed bow-brooches. The headplate of the brooch is surrounded by three wings or lappets; each consists of a banded column flanked by two birds’ heads facing outwards, their beaks pierced, supporting flat panels decorated with sheet silver. The central panel of the headplate consists of a billeted border enclosing an upper zone with three elliptical pellets; below this is a rectangular field with Style I decoration surrounding a central square panel. The bow has raised lateral ridges and a broader central ridge with a central cell. The footplate is divided into three zones. The upper zone features a central rectangular panel with Style I motifs flanked by fields of Style I zoomorphs; outside these are flat lappets covered with silver sheet. An addorsed pair of birds’ heads with pierced beaks forms he second zone. Below this an expanding trapezoidal field develops into a further lateral pair of birds’ heads with pierced beaks, flanked by c-scroll details with silver-sheet inlay. The central trapezoidal field bears a Style I zoomorph. The lower edge abuts a further sheet-silver plate, rectangular with two small rectangular flanches removed. The brooch is a hybrid form, unpublished in the standard publications but clearly based on the more developed cruciform types (compare MacGregor, A. & Bolick, E. A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals) BAR British Series 230, 1993, p.106 items 12.28, 12.37) but with details taken from great square-headed brooches. The decoration is crisp, the gilding remains across the surface in the incisions and the silver sheet is largely intact. Reference: Hines, J. A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches, Woodbridge, 1997. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Good very fine condition. Found Leicestershire.

Antiques.co.uk Ref: BM9CWBXE

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