Copper-alloy, 5.25 grams, 22.21 mm. Circa late 10th century AD. A beautiful gilt bronze brooch with enamel cloisonné decoration in blue, red, green and white. The design is a standard La Tene pattern of a central triangle whose apices extend to form the borders of three fields, each with a double volute end. Germanic (Anglo-Saxon, Frankish and Scandinavian) craftsmen made almost no use of enamelling as a decorative technique; in the 7th c. AD the art was introduced by contact with Byzantine craftsmen. Among the Romano-Britons and Irish, enamelling had remained a standard form of metallic surface decoration. The 10th c. efflorescence of enamel decoration stems from changing tastes, perhaps connected to religious reform but more probably due to the increasing difficulty in obtaining other materials (e.g. millefiori) which had been the preferred Germanic media for several centuries. Experiments and increased confidence with glazing extended also to the production of glazed floor-tiles, such as those found at Winchester. Reference: for glazing see Backhouse, J., Turner, D.H. & Webster, L. The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art 966-1066, London, 1984, p.136 and cf. the Anglo-Saxon disc brooch from Lexden, Colchester (Essex) of similar layout and construction. Very fine condition with full enamel and some gilding remaining. Ex old English collection.