Copper-alloy, 28.95 grams, 67.90 mm. 4th century AD. A crossbow brooch with low, onion-shaped bulbs on the ends of the crossbar and above the junction with the bow. The pin emerges from the rear of the crossbar and extends to the hollow footplate. The bow is trapezoidal in section, with guilloche detailing on the outer face. The expanding footplate is chamfered on the outer edges between flat panels of ring-and-dot. Hattatt (p.282-3) dates this form to the period 350-80 AD. Reference: Hattatt, R. Brooches of Antiquity, Oxford, 1987 item 1266. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.