Copper-alloy, 2.18 grams, 28.85 mm. 1st-2nd century AD. The Roman series of zoomorphic brooches includes dogs, fish, birds, hares and horses with a few examples of other animals. The 'pouncing lion' motif is relatively rare in Britain and Hattatt could note only two examples: one tinned from Woodyates (Dorset) and an enamelled one from Wiltshire. The present brooch is perhaps more similar in design to the Dorset example. It has a rounded head with a large circular recess to take an enamel panel for the eye. The profile has a spiked section along the neck and a ribbed collar representing the mane, the front leg stretched forward and the hindleg extending backwards, the tail erect. The body bears a panel of russet enamel and the eye recess was filled with the same material, now mostly degraded to a creamy white. The hinge lug and catchplate are almost complete; the pin was lost in antiquity. Hattatt associated this style of brooch with the British Durotriges tribe which inhabited the southwest and dated the type to the late 1st or early 2nd century AD before the formalizing Roman influence had made the flowing animal form rather stiff and formal. Reference: Hattatt, R. Brooches of Antiquity, Oxford, 1987 item 1193. Very fine condition. Provenance: found near Colchester, Essex, England.