Mid-late 6th century AD. A crisply cast bronze radiate-headed brooch from Melton Mowbray, far from the area normally associated with this class of find; the headplate features strong zoning, with two series of triangular mouldings inside a row of pellets; seven knobs radiate from the outer edge, each set with a cabochon garnet; the bow shows a central zone with ring-and-dot decoration flanked by zones of moulded ladder-motif; the central zone of the footplate continues the ring-and-dot theme; outside this are the zones of triangular mouldings, with further bands of pellets outside; the base consists of a transverse band of triangular mouldings surmounted by two features which may be stylised birds' heads. See Hattatt, R., Ancient Brooches And Other Artefacts, A Fourth Selection of Brooches from the author's Collection, Oxbow Books, 1989, p.229, fig.110, Item 1706, for a very similar example; see MacGregor, A., and Bolick, E., A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals), British Archaeological Reports, British Series 230, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1993, p.148, 16.2, for a very similar example; see Pollington, S., Kerr, L., Hammond, B., Weyland's Work, Anglo-Saxon Art, Myth & Material Culture from the 4th to 7th Century, Anglo-Saxon Books, 2010, p.238, for a comparable brooch. Hammond, B., British Artefacts, Volume 1 - Early Anglo-Saxon, Witham, 2009, p.38, fig.1.1.4.4-c, where it is illustrated with a scale of 1:1; See Pollington, S., Kerr, L., Hammond, B., Weyland's Work, Anglo-Saxon Art, Myth & Material Culture from the 4th to 7th Century, Anglo-Saxon Books, 2010, plate 26, for this item. 24 grams, 10.3cm (3"). Found Melton Mowbray, Lincolnshire, UK; accompanied by a signed copy of British Artefacts, Volume 1 - Early Anglo-Saxon, where it is published on page 38. Brett Hammond wrote the following about English Radiate-Headed Brooches in his book published in 2009: 'Radiate-headed bow brooches are found in the south-east of England, mainly in Kent; they were originally a Gothic fashion copied by the Lombards and Franks, and then transferred to the court at Canterbury. In England, the brooches appear to date from c.525 to c.600. They occur with high-status female burials. There are occassional finds in England of Gothic bow brooches with lozenge-shaped feet, a type which springs from the same background design tradition but this does not appear to have been a common English design, and the finds were probably imported.' Very fine condition. A rare opportunity to acquire a published English Saxon brooch of a rare type.
