Constructed in gold, and inlaid with blue glass, white shell, pearl and garnet, the brooch is 8 centimetres (3.1 in) in diameter.

The grave contained multiple burial goods, including a gold pendant, a glass palm cup, a pair of silver safety-pin brooches, and a bronze hanging-bowl.

[4] Constructed in gold, with garnet, shell and blue glass settings, the brooch was in excellent condition when it was discovered.

Faussett's notes at the time describe the brooch as “one of the most curious and, for its size, costly pieces of antiquity ever discovered in England.”[2] A favored decorative gemstone, garnet was used throughout Hellenism, and was particularly prized during the Byzantine period.

In August 1853 Godfrey Faussett's son Bryan offered his grandfather's collection of antiquities for sale to the British Museum, only for it to be declined by the trustees.