Eagle shape brooch Barros

THIS ARTICLE WILL BE ENAMELED BY HAND, SO THE ORDER WILL BE SHIPPED 7 DAYS AFTER THE PURCHASE.

Reproduction in yellow bronze of an eagle shape brooch, (original made of golden plated bronze), with circular central shield and Cloisonné decoration.

Height: 78mm. Width: 45mm.

This pieces form a pair of superb eagle-shaped fibula found at Tierra de Barros (Badajoz, southwest Spain) made of sheet gold over bronze inlaid with garnets, amythysts, and colored glass. Pendants once dangled from the loops at the bottom.

The eagle, a popular symbol during the Migration period adopted from Roman imperial insignia, was favored by the Goths. Similar eagle-shaped fibulae have been excavated from Visigothic graves in Spain and Ostrogothic graves in northern Italy, but this pair is one of the finest. These fibula would have been worn at the same time to fasten a cloak at either shoulder.

Only one pair found in the area of Tierra de Barros (badajoz) is known about 1930.

The original pieces are in The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, USA.