Square-Headed Brooch, 6th century
Anglo-Saxon
Copper alloy with gilding and niello inlay
Technical Glossary
Anglo-Saxon
Copper alloy with gilding and niello inlay
L. 5 5/16 in. (13.5 cm)
Purchase, Rogers Fund and Alastair B. Martin, Levy Hermanos Foundation Inc., and J. William Middendorf II Gifts, 1985 (1985.209)
This large gilded brooch, which would have been used to secure a cloak, displays the Anglo-Saxon preference for lavish decoration with a particular emphasis on fantastic animal forms. Dark strips of niello inlay frame its richly faceted surface, which is further animated by beast heads, many with bird beaks, projecting from the edges.
