Ave!
Copper
alloy; 34mm/4.0gm - ca. late 5th Cent
Over the years, I've only received a few Gepid
brooches and all were broken and missing the closer assembly.
This one is nearly
complete and shows how they worked. Description/ Fabricated in a two parts:
Part One - The raised dome, two lugs and the tiny barrel-shaped pin connector (
cast flat) were all
cast at the same time. After which, the
red and white enameling was added.
Part Two -
Brooch connector - Another thin copper
alloy sheet was then
cast, one end was only 1mm round to go into the end of the barrel-shaped pin connector. The rest was flattened, bent and curved to be added later for use. The 1mm end was then added to the flat barrel-shaped pin connector and crimped closed to hold it firmly in place. Once done, a final pin was added to the top of the
brooch. See the last photo. Sadly, the final attachment piece is missing.
Thanks for looking!
