$5.00
Ring brooches were (as we mention incessantly) the most common sort of brooch of the High Middle Ages. And this form of ring brooch, with its “split down the middle” esthetic was, strangely, among the most common designs. There are numerous extant brooches, dated 1300-1375, in both pewter and silver (in one example we know of silver at least partially gilt), that have a smooth surface decorated with a single flower in one half, and a twisted pattern in the other.
We own a real one, on which ours is patterned. We have no idea which side is supposed to be up – or whether one should wear the brooch with the pin vertical. Strikingly asymmetrical, but very attractive!
Numerous examples of similar brooches, dated 1300-1375, in both pewter, silver, and silver at least partially gilt. Look kind of funny to us, with a smooth flat face with a flower making up half the ring, but with the other half cat in pewter examples to look like twisted stock (and in silver perhaps actually of twisted stock)
| Pennsic debut | 2020 |
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