File:Repurposed great-square headed brooch fragment (FindID 644642).jpg

English: A fragment of gilt copper-alloy Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed brooch, repurposed as a secondary small D shaped brooch, c.AD 500-550.

Description:The brooch survives as a D-shaped fragment with the top flatter edges raising to small points at the top of each corner side possibly representing the tips of the ears of the zoomorphic design. The middle section of the brooch is dominated by a facing beast mask with large eyes and long snout; wide where the eyes are placed but evenly narrow down the remaining length of the brooch. flanking this mask on either side are two outward facing profile beats masks with curving crests and gaping mouths with curled tongues. The upper crests may also be intended to represents horns on the central beast mask.

The gilding on the upper surface of the objet remains clearly although substantial green verdi gris has corroded through. The back is undecorated although a modified hinge and catchplate arrangement is present and iron staining across the back of the object like relates to the now missing pin and hinge/spring arrangement. The breaks, particularly around the bottom appear to have some finishing in an attempt to create a more even edge.

Measurements: Length:25 mm
Width:14 mm
Thickness:1 mm
Weight:2.8 g

Discussion: This fragment represents the upper borders of the footplate of an early 6th century Great Square-Headed brooch. It appears to have been repurposed, including with some finishing along the edges, albeit crudely to create a small D-shaped plate brooch, Dr. John Hines, author of 'A New Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches' comments "I cannot identify any known close parallels to the design that would allow us even to align this with one of the known groups, with the exception of the crest on the downward-biting or -facing heads which is distinctive, and is something that runs through from Group V to Group X. But I cannot see anything quite or even at all like the arrangement of the jaws in the borders, or the specific form of the footplate bar with that outward facing mark with the brows up towards the bow, on any other specimen I have records of." It has therefore not been possible to classify this fragment under John Hines' corpus, however the association with groups V-X and the general Style I decoration would suggest a date in the first half of the 6th century which Dr. Hines concurs with.