297 (30)

269

Brooches

blackening on some mirror cases (see on no. 1718). The stylisation means that the leaf cannot be identified with any particular tree or plant. Although the leaf was found soldered to the frame, the two parts, may not have been associated in this way originally. While the beading on the leafs stem could be a continuation of that around the edge of the frame, the mould seam-line on the back of the frame has no counterpart on the leaf, even though that is on the same alignment. The leaf seems to be too long by some 5mm to fit within the frame (the solder obscures what would be the actual point of attachment, but there is no obvious break on the opposite side of the frame or at the top of the leaf, where these two elements would have been joined if they originally went together). The combination of the almost naturalistic leaf with the simple linear decoration of the frame is not readily paralleled among other lead-alloy dress accessories known from medieval London. It is difficult to imagine such a large frame being used without a central element, despite the difficulties in the way of regarding the leaf as an original component. Were it not for the clip and hint of a pin, the frame might have been suitable for a mirror, though no elear parallel can be cited. Until a morę complete object of this type is found it is best to regard this as a secondary combination, the original central part having been discarded and replaced with the leaf. For the large size, cf no. 1350.

The following brooch lacks a pin:

Woman’s head:

1375 TL74 acc. no. 2520 (context 416) ceramic phase 11 fig 174

Some elements missing; no pin; d 29mm; consists of two parts, both lead/tin (MLC) - ań openwork component soldered at four points to a backing disc; the disc has two pairs of stubs on each side; the openwork part depicts a woman’s head with a hatched headdress extending down beside the neck on each side, and, on the bust, a series of lobes which may be the top of the clothing, all within an eight-arched tressure with (?)trefoils at the points on each side, all within a circular band with a beaded bord^r. The stubs on the backing disc probably represent lo ps originally on each side.

This item has been published (Spencer 1982, 315 no. 12) and the headdress identified as belonging to the period 1370-1420; Spencer remarks that the backing plate’s original loops (by which the roundel could be sewn onto clothing) are characteristic of Continental

manufacture, probably French. The attribution is the morę striking now that this object is seen as the sole representative of the type among the items considered in this volume under the category of dress accessories.

It may be a pilgrim souvenir from an unrecognised shrine (ibid), but it is included here because there is no unequivocal religious connection.

The above 73 brooches from recent excavations allow some important trends to be identified. The non-selective retrieval of all brooches in the field, including fragments, gives a morę reliable idea than was previously available of the relative popularity of different categories in medieval London (see table 5). These trends may well be applicable elsewhere.

The very high proportion of lead/tin brooches comprises exactly hali of those in which the pin is separate from the frame, and all 24 of those where the means of attachment is integrally cast (this includes no. 1375, probably of foreign origin, originally with loops for sewing it in place). These base metals thus account for two thirds of the brooches listed here - a sharp contrast to other published series of comparable datę in major collections. The emphasis on these cheap metals becomes morę pronounced towards the end of the three-hundred year period considered here. It is quite likely that some of the brooches among the ąuarter of the total which have integral pins (and which are all from the later contexts) will in due course be identified as specifically religious trinkets - the stylistic links with pilgrim souvenirs are clearly very strong, and some may well have been produced by the same manufacturers (Brian Spencer, pers. comm.). It is nevertheless possi-ble to see within the series with integral pins the development of purely secular brooches out of a religious mainstream, just as cathedral shops today stock a rangę of secular items.

Of the brooches with separate pins, the half of the total that are madę of lead/tin is almost exactly matched by the number of copper-alloy examples. While the majority of white-metal brooches can be designated pewter, no. 1325 (fig 163) is of relatively unalloyed tin. There are only two brooches of silver, and gold is not repre-sented among the recently excavated groups apart from coating on copper-alloy brooches nos. 1305 and 1319 (figs 160 & 162) - the former a