Six disc brooches from the Pentney hoard
Anglo-Saxon, early 9th century AD
From Pentney, Norfolk, England
Found by Mr William King while digging a grave
in 1978
The brooches of this extraordinary hoard are principally made of
delicately cut and engraved sheet silver. The decoration shows that
there are two pairs together with one larger and one smaller
individual brooch. The pairs suggest that some disc brooches were
made to be worn in twos like Viking oval brooches. However, the
smallest brooch is the only one to show signs of having been worn.
Unusually, all but the smallest still have their pins and fixings,
the finest belonging to the largest brooch. Overall, they were in
very good condition when they were buried, suggesting that the
hoard might have belonged to someone who made or sold the brooches
(although they may not have all been made by the same person or
workshop).
The four brooches of similar size are decorated with animal and
plant ornament in a cruciform (cross-shaped) arrangement. This
originally carried five domed bosses. One pair of brooches has
scalloped edges, extensive beading and a central lozenge of
decoration. There are also four radiating lobes of foliage divided
by contorted animal motifs. The other brooch pair is inlaid with
black niello and a simple cross divides them into quarters, each
decorated with a pair of entwined dragon-like creatures. These
originally had glass eyes.
Niello has also been used extensively on the largest brooch in
this collection. Its decoration is also based around a cross. It
has nine small bosses, one marking the centre while the others pick
out the points of four zones of decoration within circles of animal
openwork.
The smallest brooch is also in openwork, but this is riveted to
a gilded backplate which gives a contrasting background to the
simple decoration of entwined stylized plants.
D.M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon art (London, Thames and Hudson, 1984)
L. Webster and J. Backhouse, The making of England: Anglo-S, exh. cat. (London, The British Museum Press, 1991)