English: A complete cast copper alloy zoomorphic plate brooch dating from the Roman period. In plan, the front of the brooch consists of a bird, seen from above, with wings extended and pointing to the reverse and a long body and tail which flairs out. The tail terminates in a transverse straight edge adjoining the chord which is secured with a hook beyond the tail. When viewed in profile, plate which forms the body of the bird can be seen to be largely flat, with a crest on the body of the bird between the wings in low relief and the sub-triangular neck and beaked head protruding from the front of the body. Below the chord on the reverse of the brooch is the spring which is held in a lug below the end of the tail (the hook is also part of this projection). A copper alloy axis bar secures the spring and the broadly central pin, which is held in a catchplate below the front of the body of the bird. The brooch is 31.9mm long, 16.9mm wide, and 20.11mm from top of the head to base of the catchplate. It has a mass of 8.0g.

The front of the brooch is decorated. There is a raised sub-triangular design within the body of the bird. The wings and edges of the body are decorated with zig-zag grooves. The eyes are incised. The reverse of the brooch is undecorated although there are a number of grooves, largely transverse to the orientation of the body, which are fling marks from the finishing process. The visible edges of the tail, body and wings of the bird all show grooves at about 45 degrees. These are particularly heavy on the edges of the body and tail behind the wings, and the internal edge of the wings. These are also post-casting finishing marks.

The body of the brooch has a well developed dark green patina. The golden brown colour of the copper alloy is partially visible on one patch of the reverse where filing marks are visible. There are also some unidentified cream/brown adhesions on the reverse. The spring, pin and chord have a slightly more pitted and lighter green surface. The brooch is complete and in exceptionally fine condition.

In “Roman brooches in Britain: A technological and typological study based on the Richborough collection”, Bayley and Butcher (2004, p.173) suggest that many of the zoomorphic brooches seem to be continental product based on their widespread distribution in the mainland provinces of the Roman Empire. But they do see British developments (ibid. p174). For example, ducks or hens in the round, the body and head projecting from a flat base which conceals the pin and catchplate, which seem to date to the later second century. This type has a similar orientation to the brooch described here, but the round projecting body is different. In her “Brooch Timeline”, Worrell (2007) dates the zoomorphic brooch (hare variant) to AD100-AD200. A date circa the second century AD is most likely for the brooch recorded here.