Large Early Iron-Age Spectacle Fibula

£ 1,100.00

A fine bronze spectacle fibula dating to the Early Iron Age. The fibula is made of a continuous bronze wire wound in different directions forming two spirals. The wire gradually tapers in towards the centre, leading the eye inward. The clean, sharp way in which the wire ends in the middle suggests that rather than having the pin and catch that was formed from the same piece of bronze, this fibula had a different method of attachment. Most likely, rivets connected to a backing plate would have been inserted through central holes and secured in the front with metal caps. The two spirals are embellished by a vertically arranged, slightly off-centre figure-of-eight coil formed from the same wire. From archaeological evidence, such fibulae were pinned on each shoulder to hold the garment.

The measurements listed below includes the stand. The piece itself weighs 386.3g, and measures 18.7cm in length and 9cm in width. The diameter of each spiral is 9cm.

Date: Circa 11th–7th century BC
Period: Early Iron Age
Condition: Excellent condition. The backing plate and the rivets are now missing. The surface is covered with a beautiful green patination. The fibula is mounted onto a custom-made stand.
SKU: CES-40 Categories: , Tags: ,

Spectacle (or spiral) fibulae have been found in a large area of Central-Eastern Europe, from Switzerland to the Black Sea, and from Baltic to the Aegean and Southern Italy. The chronological spread is also wide, going from the late Bronze Age to the fifth century B.C.  In several types of such fibulae, such as this piece, the two main discs are separated by two loops, making a figure-eight shape in the middle. These brooches would have been formed by beginning in the centre of one spiral and working outward, then creating the second spiral from the outside in.

Spiral patterns, although associated now with the Celtic people, have in one form or another, been used in the art of many cultures worldwide. Appearing on rock art in Britain and Ireland as far back as the Neolithic period, spirals appear to have held important, though now forgotten, meaning with some of the earliest human civilisations. The double spiral is thought to signify balance, no doubt owing to the symmetry of the dual spirals. This symbolism is sometimes further extended, suggesting that the double spiral represents the equinox, when day and night are of equal length and an important time in much of early culture and religion.

Weight 621.1 g
Dimensions L 18.7 x W 5.1 x H 17 cm
Region

Central Europe, Southern Europe

Metal

Bronze

Reference: For a similar fibula, The British Museum, item 1824,0434.42

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