Silver and copper-alloy, 6.60 grams, 35.90 mm. 6th-7th century. The brooch consists of a silvered copper-alloy backplate with catchplate and lug for the missing iron pin, to which is soldered the repoussé silver faceplate. The design is a Salin's Style II composition of four zoomorphs with three-strand bodies (a Style I feature), ring-and-dot eyes, quadrangular jaws, pelletted hips and three-toed feet with recurved hind claw, all drawn together in a four-way knot. A raised pelletted border completes the design. This item is discussed at length in Hattatt (1989), who considered it likely that the faceplate was originally a silver D-bracteate from Kent, although the brooch was discovered in the Wansdyke area of Wiltshire. This remains the most likely interpretation, yet the plate is rather large for a standard form of Anglo-Saxon bracteate; Style II animals are otherwise unknown on composite disc brooches. An important and unusual item which poses many questions for the history of Germanic art in Britain, the use and re-use of bracteates and the sources of faceplates for composite disc brooches. Reference: Hattatt, R. Ancient Brooches and Artefacts, Oxford, 1989, p.214-5 item 1689. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Good very fine, exceptional preservation for the type. Ex the Hattatt Collection.