An early Iron Age bronze spectacle fibula brooch comprising double-concave roundels formed from a single wire and coiled into two opposing spirals linked by a figure-of-eight. The pin and catch-plate preserved at the back.
 
Italic Early Iron Age: Circa 10th-7th century BC.
 
Very fine condition: Good stable metal with rich green patina. A superb example.
Width 11.2 cms (4.4 ins)
 
Provenance: Ex London, UK, gallery, previously in a private collection Ex Numisart Munich 2000's.
 
Reference: Cassani, The Art of the Italic Peoples, no. 188, for a similar example. Harvard Art Museum, accession no. 1952.15, for a parallel. Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no. 37.11.18, for a parallel.
See also figure 11, page 15 Jewellery of the Ancient World: Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology.
 
The spectacle fibula was widely distributed from the Balkans and northern Greece to Greece to the western Adriatic coast and southern Italy, from the beginning of the first Millenium BC.
 
This fibula most likely comes from southern Italy, where similar examples have been found in elite women's graves. From the archaeological evidence, they were pinned on each shoulder to hold the garment.