Incomplete cast copper alloy Anglo-Saxon button brooch with up-turned rim, probably of Avent and Evison Class Bi. Found by metal detector at Exton, Hampshire. Circa 5th-6th century AD. Moulded anthropomorphic face-mask decoration comprising a fairly rou

Incomplete cast copper alloy Anglo-Saxon button brooch with up-turned rim, probably of Avent and Evison Class Bi. Found by metal detector at Exton, Hampshire. Circa 5th-6th century AD. Moulded anthropomorphic face-mask decoration comprising a fairly rounded helmet, a straight line for the eyebrows which form a T with the nose which flares slightly at the nostrils. The eyes are small and round and have curved eyerlings underneath them. The cheeks are rounded and well defined. Much of the gilding on the upper surface survives. The remains of the catchplate and hinge, together with considerable iron corrosion, survive on the reverse, and are arranged in a lateral alignment with the face mask. The reverse is otherwise generally flat. The rim angle is approximately 70 degrees.

Button brooch

Anglo-Saxon, about 5th-6th century AD

Found by a metal detectorist at Exton, Hampshire in 2004

This cast copper-alloy pagan Anglo-Saxon brooch features a face-mask with a rounded helmet, small round eyes and rounded and well defined cheeks. Much of the gilding on the upper surface survives. The iron brooch pin only survives as a patch of corrosion on the back. The brooch may have been used to fasten clothing, but whose face does it show? Perhaps a famous warrior, or a pagan god?

Portable Antiquities Scheme find number HAMP-293861.

Incomplete cast copper alloy Anglo-Saxon button brooch with up-turned rim, probably of Avent and Evison Class Bi. Found by metal detector at Exton, Hampshire. Circa 5th-6th century AD. Moulded anthropomorphic face-mask decoration comprising a fairly rou