Pair of dragonesque brooches

Roman Britain, 1st or 2nd century AD
From Faversham, Kent

This pair of dragonesque brooches has enamelled decoration in blue and red. Dragonesque brooches were functional fasteners as well as decorative objects: the strongly-curved pin would have held a thick fold of cloth.

Like many fibulae (decorative clasps or brooches), dragonesques could be worn as a pair, one on each shoulder, joined by a chain or cord. Even when made as a matching set, nearly all dragonesque brooches face in the same direction.

C. Johns, The jewellery of Roman Britain (London, UCL Press, 1996)