Penannular brooch of bronze

Add to album

This bronze penannular brooch, inlaid with silver and enamel, was found at the site of the Roman fort at Newstead in Roxburghshire. When worn, cloth was slipped over the pin and the ring turned to hold the pin and cloth fast.

The large penannular ring has blunt expanded terminals decorated with a dog-tooth ornament and a broken-backed curve inlaid with silver and enamel. The pin is slightly curved with a flat and expanded tip and is free to rotate around most of the ring.

This brooch is an elaborate example of a native type which originated before the Roman occupation. It may have been made when the style was going out of fashion, replaced by other forms of penannular brooches.

Record details

To search on related items, click any underlined text below.

• Online ID: 000-100-037-199-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.FRA 806
• Date: Between 80 and 180 AD
  
• Material: Bronze; decorated with blue enamel and silver inlay
  Brooch, penannular
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Brooch, penannular
  
• Subject:
• Who: Newstead Collection
  
• Where: Scotland, Roxburghshire, Melrose, Newstead
  
• Event:
• Description: Bronze penannular brooch with terminals decorated with blue enamel and silver inlay, from Newstead
  
• References:
  • Clarke, D.V., Breeze, D.J., and Mackay, Ghillean. The Romans in Scotland. An introduction to the collections of the National Museums of Antiquities of Scotland. Edinburgh: National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, 1980, p 39. 
• Translations:
• Related Records: