https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/templates/general_wide/img/logo.png https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches.html https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/annular-brooch-59154.html Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:14:30 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A large open-frame annular brooch of medieval date. The frame is plain with a flattened oval cross-section and a recess to locate the pin. The pin survives but is slightly bent at the centre. It is very slender and of parallel rectangular cross-section with a rounded tip.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/open-frame-brooch-59086.html Sat, 27 Dec 2025 14:17:25 GMT Brooches  

Description:		An open-frame brooch of medieval date depicting two addorsed long-billed birds. The birds are conjoined at their heads and tails and widely separated by their highly arched backs. Feathers were probably indicated by markings on the wings and bodies, but these are now very worn. Deep recesses for the eyes suggest that they may originally have been inset with small glass beads. Between the two heads there is a hinged remnant of a copper-alloy pin.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/annular-brooch-58994.html Fri, 07 Nov 2025 18:59:04 GMT Brooches  

Description:		An annular copper-alloy brooch of the medieval period. The brooch has six equally spaced turrets, each of which is recessed to hold a paste stone. Two of the turrets are now empty, three retain a chalky, near-white substance, and just one retains a green glass stone. Five arcs of the frame between the turrets are decorated with an eight-dot, domino-like pattern, and one arc is drilled to fit the (missing) pin. The near-white substance is most likely calcium carbonate, used to set the stones.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/brooch-pin-58877.html Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:30:18 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A very unusual gold (or possibly silver-gilt) brooch pin of the medieval period. The attachment end of the pin has a broken hinge, which was very probably the cause of its loss. Immediately adjacent to the broken hinge is a rounded collar with punched decoration, a feature often found on high quality open-frame brooches of the medieval period. The unusual feature is the shaft itself. It is of flattened hexagonal cross-section and is expanded and arched forwards at the centre, where it is set with a trapezoidal blue gemstone, possibly a sapphire. The free end of the shaft tapers to a rounded point. Brooches with pins of this type are rare. They were used as fasteners at the neck, where the pin could be passed through both sides of a collar such that the gemstone would be visible between them when the brooch was worn. A complete brooch with a generally similar type of pin is recorded as PAS: LVPL-039CF2.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/shield-shaped-badge-or-brooch-58589.html Sun, 20 Apr 2025 17:07:48 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A shield-shaped copper-alloy badge or brooch of the medieval period. The object consists of a flat, shield-shaped plate, to the back of which a fastener is riveted through the centre. The front of the plate is decorated with a border of punched dots, and there are multiple punched dots overall. However, it is unclear, due to wear and corrosion, whether they are randomly entered or form a pattern. The fastener is riveted to the plate such that it is parallel with the flat top of the shield. It has a drilled transverse lug at one end, a flat central section where it is riveted, and a blunt-pointed recurved hook at the opposite end. The construction of the object is closely similar to that of pseudo-nummular brooches of the same period, which were made from jetons or decorated discs  (e.g. UKDFD 1861 and UKDFD 58244). With regard to whether these objects are badges (symbolic) or brooches (purely decorative) and the way in which they were attached to clothing, Brian Read (see References below) makes the following observations: "The badges theory is plausible, for the attachment-loops are suitable for stitching to dress or textile straps and the hooks possibly linked into small metal- or worked-eyes or directly into textile; however perhaps they functioned as lightweight clasps worn with delicate fabrics."
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/annular-brooch-fragment-58365.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 16:17:34 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A composite annular brooch fragment of the medieval period. The fragment comprises three conjoined oval sections of the frame, the central one radially wider than those on either side. The central section has two turrets towards the outer edge and a small central piercing, which probably housed the pin. The turrets would originally have held paste stones, but these are now missing. They retain a chalky, near-white substance (probably calcium carbonate, used to set the stones). Both outer sections have a square, decorated plate attached to them by a central pin, which is flush with the frame on the back but protrudes on the front. The decoration of the plates consists of a beaded border and a beaded inner square around the pin. The fragment probably represents one-third of the original frame.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/annular-brooch-58360.html Sat, 07 Dec 2024 15:57:25 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A small copper-alloy annular brooch of the medieval period, it has an undecorated, circular section frame which has a small reduction at one point to accommodate the wrap-around pin
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/annular-brooch-fragment-58359.html Sat, 07 Dec 2024 12:52:59 GMT Brooches  

Description:		An incomplete annular brooch of the medieval period. The brooch, of which half survives is of coronet form, composed of four outwardly sloping turrets, each recessed to hold a paste 'gem'. The turrets retain an off-white substance of a chalky appearance which is probably calcium carbonate, this would be used to set the gems. The outer edge of the base is toothed, each tooth is notched on either side of the apex, and below each notch is a circular indentation also containing the chalky substance, indicating further use of smaller gemstones. The lower half of the turrets appear to have hatched decoration. The uppermost tooth is holed to accommodate the pin.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/annular-brooch-58357.html Fri, 06 Dec 2024 15:29:59 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A small copper-alloy annular brooch of the medieval period. It is circular in plan, and of trapezoidal cross-section, reduced at one point to attach the pin. The front is decorated with nineteen indented ring motifs, which are equally spaced around the frame. Complete with wrap-around pin
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/medieval/brooches/nummular-brooch-58244.html Wed, 25 Sep 2024 16:58:37 GMT Brooches  

Description:		A medieval pseudo-nummular brooch made from copper-alloy sheet. The brooch consists of a discoidal front plate riveted at the centre to a clasp or attachment clip made from strip. The front of the brooch has been engraved with a design that simulates a seal or a coin. The central design is a stylised fleur-de-lis with pellets in the surrounding field, all within a beaded inner circle. A Latin inscription around the central design is intended to be read as + AMOR VINCIT OMNIA (Love Conquers All), but the C of VINCIT - most likely omitted in error - appears to have been replaced by an apostrophe-like contractive mark over the top right of the N. The back of the disc is plain. The clasp is slightly damaged, but would originally have been of similar form to that of UKDFD 1861.
Category:		Medieval, Brooches
Category:		Brooches

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