- Museum number
- 1962,1205.1
- Description
-
Gold crossbow brooch. Richly ornamented, being engraved over the bow and down the back; each of the two lateral knobs trimmed with beading, one at the head likewise. One of the lateral knobs is a screw which served to fasten the pin. The back of the brooch triangular in section, the pin missing.
- Production date
- 390-460 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Length: 79 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- 'Type 6 crossbows have been dated to c AD390-460.... Two of the three examples are gold [including this one from Moray Firth] and there is a bias towards sites with high-status occupants... Swift... noted a retreat from the frontiers of Type 6, and it is possible that the type was limited to only the highest levels of the military or civil servants.... As such, the lack of examples from the frontiers may be paralleled by an increase in examples in southern Gaul and Italy, the provinces where the western court resided at the time' (Collins, R., 'Brooch use in the 4th - 5th century frontier', in Collins, R. & Allason-Jones, L. (eds.) 2010, Finds from the Frontier. Material Culture in the 4th-5th Centuries, CBA Research Report 162, 67.
- Location
- On display (G49/dc11)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2014 14 Mar-15 Jun, Glasgow, Hunterian Art Gallery, Scottish Gold
2012-2013 Oct- Mar, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Constantine 313 A.D.
2006 31 Mar-29 Oct, York, Yorkshire Museum, Constantine
2003 7 Dec-2004 2 May, Italy, Milan, Museo Diocesano, Ambrogio e Agostino: le sorgenti dell’Europa
1995 30 Jul-29 Oct, Germany, Konstanz, Museum Baden-Wurttemberg, Die Schraube zwischen Macht und Pracht: Das Gewinde in der Antike
1995 8 Apr-16 Jul, Germany, Kunzelsau, Museum Wurth, Die Schraube zwischen Macht und Pracht: Das Gewinde in der Antike
1984 4 May-10 Nov, Germany, Trier, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, 2000 Jahre Trier: Constantin und Trier
1977 British Museum, Wealth of the Roman World: Gold and Silver AD 300-700
- Acquisition date
- 1962
- Acquisition notes
- Found during ploughing in 1847 near the Moray Firth. First presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London, 30th May 1850. See PSA II 1849-1853, 1850 no. 28, p85-86. ‘Originally in the Ashburnham collection.’ Bought by the BM (Dept of Greek and Roman Antiquities) in 1922, from E.T. Phillips of New Bond Street. Original registration number 1922,0412.1. Transferred to Dept of British and Medieval Antiquities in 1962, and allocated current number.
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1962,1205.1
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 1922,0412.1 (Greek and Roman number)