File:Chatelaine plate brooch. Side view. (FindID 491983).jpg

English: An incomplete, Roman, cast, copper alloy, chatelaine plate brooch of unusual type. These brooches were a native British device for keeping toilet articles together and handy about the person. They were fairly expensive enamelled brooches which must have been confined to the more wealthy folk with the resultant scarcity of such finds. This brooch has an open work 'D' shape with a straight wide base. This has horizonal ridges with grooves above and below a plain central, concave panel. This has a perforated, rounded lug at each end (one missing) through which a bar is passed (also missing) to suspend three toilet instruments i.e. tweezers, ear scoop and nail cleaner. There is a dot and circle motif on the large periferal collared lug above the 'D' frame and a smaller one below with a couple of specks of possible white enamel remnants. Both hinge pin and catch plate intact on the back. There are no signs of wear, other than the missing lug and bar, and it has a very attractive dark brown, glossy, even, patina with just a few patches of lighter coloured rusty staining, probably as a result of being found in waterlogged ground conditions. This brooch is likely to date to 100-200AD. Ref. Iron Age & Roman Brooches, R. Hattatt, Oxbow Books 1985, page 168-170 no. 603, Brooches of Antiquity, R. Hattatt, Oxbow Books 1987, page 194-196 no. 1081-1083 and Ancient Brooches and Other Artefacts, R. Hattatt, Oxbow Books 1989, page 351 - visual catalogue. The brooch is 37.89mm long, 30.73mm wide, 7.60mm thick and weighs 6.0g.