Anglo-Saxon brooches

The majority of brooches found in early Anglo-Saxon England were Continental styles that had migrated from Europe.

In the sixth century, metalworkers from Kent, and eventually other regions, started creating brooches using their own distinctive styles and techniques.

However, decorative their appearance and however much they were used to express social and cultural identity, their primary role was to hold edges of garments together and to control loose flaps of clothing.

[6] The majority of brooches found in early Anglo-Saxon England were Continental styles that had migrated from Europe and Scandinavia.

[7] During the sixth century, craftsmen from Kent began manufacturing brooches using their own distinctive styles and techniques.

Miscellaneous brooches during this time period include the bird, the ottonian, the rectangle and the cross motif.

The bow section curves from the head to the foot, and the angle of the arch can vary depending upon the style.

Great square-headed brooches are generally made of copper alloy, and surface treatments of gilding, silvering and tinning are common.

[18][19] Radiate-headed brooches were popular in sixth century Kent, probably the result of the high number of Frankish people migrating to the region".

Their distinguishing characteristic is a semi-circular head plate with ornamented knobs or terminals radiating outward.

According to the Portable Antiquities Scheme database, "The ‘supporting arm’ is in fact wings, each with a perforated lug on the reverse to hold the pin bar, around which the spring is wrapped.

The brooch was typically cast in a single piece in copper alloy, gilded and then secured with a pin.

[7] Gilded saucer brooches are found in female graves in every part of southern and central England.

These brooches date from the mid-fifth to the late sixth century, [25] and are found primarily in southern and eastern England.

It has a circular setting surrounded by three or four keystone garnets or pieces of glass and alternating sections of raised decoration, often in Style I.

The central setting is surrounded by filigree and cloisonné decoration, which usually includes roundels discs and multiple triangles.

This brooch is large, 40-85mm in diameter, and heavy due to the thick layer of filler between the middle and front plate.

[27] According to Gale Owen-Crocker, "The Kingston Brooch is our most elaborate example of the type, with more concentric circles than any other, cloisonnés of great complexity, contrasting colours--two shades of garnet blue glass and gold--filigree ornament representing serpentine animals and, on the back, a decorated pin catch with an animal and bird heads.

The flat annular often displays a shiny surface, which is possibly the result of the brooch brushing against clothing.

[13] The quoit brooch combines the annular and penannular form with a double ring, and is intricately decorated.

The earliest of these jewellery items were large, opulent silver brooches made in Kent in the mid-fifth century.

The outer annular ring is characteristically decorated in concentric circles of lightly chip-carved geometric motifs, quadrupeds, sea creatures and human masks".

The late Anglo-Saxon annular brooches, popular in the sixth and seventh centuries, trended toward a smaller size over time.

[7] After the seventh century, the pennannular brooches were made in Celtic, Irish and Viking art styles.

[29] Another well-known openwork example is the silver and niello Strickland Brooch, which also dates to the ninth century.

[13] The S-shaped brooches migrated from Continental Europe and can be found throughout Anglo-Saxon England and date from 450—550AD.

Made in silver or copper alloy, these simple clothing fasteners resemble modern day safety-pins.

This traditionally styled brooch was once considered by scholars to be a rare European jewellery item, imported to England during the Anglo-Saxon era.

Enamelling is the process of using extremely high heat to fuse glass onto a prepared metal surface.

The most common styles include: the back-turned animal, coin, cross, concentric circle, stepped and cogwheel forms.