Copper-alloy, gilt, 5.61 grams, 21.09 mm. 5th-6th century AD. A beautiful gilt-bronze button brooch with an unusual geometric design derived from the standard motif of a helmetted human face. Avent & Evison have recorded and published the type, but leave it 'unclassified'. The greater part of the saucer flange is still present, as well as most of the catchplate; the corroded iron spring obscures the lug. Reference: Avent, R. & Evison, V.I. Anglo-Saxon Button Brooches, in Archaeologia, vol.CVII, 1982 fig. 19.1, 19.2. Good very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.