Ancient Roman Animal Brooches for Sale
Brooches were worn by the native British people before the Roman invasion. This means that brooches of the Roman period in Britain show a mixture of both British and Classical styles. Brooches were not just for decoration. They also had a practical use of securing clothing, in particular cloaks and tunics, and worked in a similar way to modern day safety pins. This meant that brooches were worn by both male and female as both sexes would have needed to secure their clothes. Popular animal shapes included birds, hares, hounds, horses and fish. Many of these animals are thought to have had symbolic importance during the Roman period.
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 Roman Antiquities Main Menu |
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| RL 010935 | Scarce Roman Enameled 'Cockerel' Brooch Copper alloy, 8.52 grams; 35.10 mm. Circa 2nd century AD. Hollow bodied three-dimensional brooch representing a sitting cockerel. The body has enamelled cells that form the wings; the tail is formed by a loop which would have supported a chain. Some enamel still intact, pin lost in antiquity. Ref: Celtic & Roman Artefacts by Nigel Mills; page 58. Very fine condition. | £165.00  |  |
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| RT 010888 | Extremely Rare Roman 'Duck & Fly' Brooch Copper alloy, 6.94 grams; 40.86 mm. Circa 2nd Century AD. Derivative type duck/fly brooch. The body can be interpreted as either the duck or fly, for the duck it’s obvious that the wings are spread out to the side of the protruding head and neck getting narrower towards the tail which, if looked at from the birds head back is again very obviously a fly. Decorated with orange and green enameled cells with silver boarders. This is a very rare and interesting brooch with no similarities being listed in Richard Hattatt’s Ancient Brooches. Pin lost in antiquity, otherwise good very fine condition. Found Suffolk. | £325.00 |  |
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| RT 010902 | Excellent Roman 'Walking Lion' Brooch Copper alloy, 13.17 grams; 48.63 mm. Circa 2nd - 3rd century AD. Early plate type brooch in the form of a lion walking left. The detail of the lion’s mane is made up of small wavy lines and the eye is represented by a small dot; line below is decorated with small vertical lines. Good very fine condition with pin intact. Found Suffolk. | £140.00 |  |
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| RT 010897 | Extremely Rare Roman 'Lion' Brooch Copper alloy, 8.22 grams; 40.49 mm. Circa 2nd Century. Representation of a lion walking to the right. There are eight enamel circular cells on the body which are green and orange in colour, the mane is represented by two ridges with incised wavy lines, large ear and long tail. Ref: Celtic & Roman Artefacts by Nigel Mills, RB141. Rare and complete with pin in Extremely Fine condition. Found near Baylem House, Norfolk. | £550.00 |  |
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| RT 010928 | Beautiful Roman 'Peacock' Brooch Copper alloy, 4.56 grams; 29.30 mm. Circa 2nd Century A.D. A very scarce plate brooch in the form of a peacock, the tail feathers are decorated in multiple circles of niello inlay, this then follows on through to the head with all the detailing being made up from niello. The head has a small crest with a massive ring and dot eye and small beak. Ref: Benets Artefacts of England & the United Kingdom, R07-0553; Richard Hattatt’s Ancient Brooches, 1171. The examples shown in this reference are all with enamel inlay not niello. Scarce brooch with pin and in Good Very Fine condition. Found Haverhill, Suffolk. | £475.00 |  |
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| RT 010926 | Extremely Rare Roman 'Crouching Boar' Brooch Copper alloy, 6.27 grams; 37.02 mm. Circa 2nd Century A.D. Rare British brooch depicting a well detailed crouching boar facing right as if getting ready to attack, decorated with round enamel cells of white and green, curly tail and full mane swept back. Ref: Benets Artefacts of England & the United Kingdom, R07-0541; page 140. This type of brooch without a pin was booking from £400 in 2003 as stated in Benets. Extremely Fine condition with pin. Found Thetford, Norfolk. | £550.00 |  |
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| RT 010895 | Roman 'Running Hound' Brooch Copper alloy, 4.73 grams; 41.40 mm. Circa 2nd Century A.D. Native British brooch of flat plate design with enamel cells for the eye and body, the eye having yellow enamel and the body has white enamel with black circles representing a ‘spotty dog’. The designer of this brooch has caught a great image of the hound running, ear pointing back, tail raised and legs at full stretch. In ancient Britain the dog was regarded as a symbol of the Celtic healing divinity Nodons, and had cult associations with both healing and death. Ref: Richard Hattatt’s Ancient Brooches, 610. A good example of this type rarely found with enamel and pin intact. Found Cowes, Isle of Wight. | £280.00 |  |
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| RT 010889 | Extremely Rare Roman 'Bird in Flight' Brooch Copper alloy, 6.96 grams; 40.86 mm. Circa 2nd Century A.D. Derivative type bird in fight/fly brooch. The body can be interpreted as either the bird or fly, for the bird it’s obvious that the wings are spread out to the side of the protruding head and neck getting narrower towards the tail which, if looked at from the birds head back is again very obviously a fly. Decorated with yellow and green enameled cells and silvering this is a very rare and interesting brooch with no similarities being listed in Richard Hattatt’s Ancient Brooches. Extremely Fine condition and with pin. Found Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk. | £425.00 |  |
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| RT 010910 | Rare Roman 'Dolphin' Bow Brooch Copper alloy, 15.83 grams; 51.88 mm. Circa 2nd – 3rd Century A.D. Bow brooch with dolphin form body, large catch plate and hinge pin. Heavily silvered body with tail in the form of two joined crescents, pointed snout and small fins. A scarce brooch in Extremely Fine condition, complete with pin and with most of the original silvering. Only a single example shown in Hattatt. Found near Ipswich, Suffolk. | £195.00 |  |
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| RT 010887 | Roman 'Flying Bird' Brooch Copper alloy, 9.57 grams; 46.02 mm. Circa 100 – 300 A.D. Bird in full flight right with small wings. Large lozenge shaped body divided into four beautifully enameled blue cells, the tail is made up of two white enamel fan shaped cells terminating in to a soft point. A variant of the normal bird in flight type, this example having the wings closer to the body and larger tail. Ref: Similar to Celtic & Roman Artefacts by Nigel Mills, RB149. Very well preserved complete with pin and in Good Very Fine condition. Found near Brancaster, Norfolk. | £265.00 |  |
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| RL 006291 | Extemely Rare Roman 'Sea Monster' Brooch Copper alloy, 7.88 grams, 39.78 mm. Circa 2nd Century A.D. An extremely rare representation of a sea monster with a crescent-shaped body with lunette panel and keystone segments of red and blue enamel. Ref: Celtic and Roman Artefact by Nigel Mills page 60, R154. Good Very Fine condition. Found Eastern Europe. | £425.00 |  |
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| RL 87 | Roman 'Legionary Eagle' Brooch Enamelled copper alloy, 1.71 grams, 23.21 mm. 2nd Century A.D. A Roman bird brooch in the form of a legionary eagle, with wings quarter-stretched, head facing right. Good Fine condition with traces of blue and red enamel still evident. | £60.00 |  |
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| RL 00100 | Roman 'Animal' Brooch Bronze, 9.93 grams; 39.73 mm. A smart 5th Century 'equal arm' brooch with two sytlized horse heads facing towards the centre. Iron pin no longer present, beautiful patination and in Extremely Fine condition. | £35.00 |  |
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| RL 002210 | Roman 'Opposing Lions' Bow Brooch Bronze, 5.46 grams; 31.83 mm. Zoomorphic brooch in the shape of two lions with Their front legs stretched out to form part of the catch plate and pin support, and catch plate fully in tact. Very Fine condition. Ex Pullen collection. | £90.00 |  |
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| RL 002209 | Roman 'Leaping Lion' Bow Brooch Bronze, 5.33 grams; 27.81 mm. Zoomorphic brooch in the shape of a lion with its front legs stretched out which forms part of the catch plate, pin and catch plate fully in tact. Ref: Hattatt 1465, Gaulish. Very Fine condition. Ex Pullen collection. | £95.00 |  |
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| RL 000445 | Roman 'Bird' Brooch Bronze, 5.35 grams; 33.79 mm. 1st-2nd Century A.D. Zoomorphic brooch in the shape of a 'bird", ring and dot eye's and fan tail with delicate detail running along the back. Stunning patination in Very Fine condition. | £65.00 |  |
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