AD300 Roman Thracia (Bulgaria Serbia) Brooch Pendant + 19thC Antique 8¼ct Agate

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AD300 Roman Thracia (Bulgaria Serbia) Brooch Pendant + 19thC Antique 8¼ct Agate:
$149.99

Handsome Ancient Roman Bronze Brooch Pendant and Chain. Mounted with Antique Nineteenth Century Handcrafted Agate.

CLASSIFICATION: Roman Bronze Artifact, Gemstone Brooch Fragment (Pendant). Contemporary gold tone chain.

ATTRIBUTION: Eastern Roman Empire (Thracia), Third to Fourth Century A.D.

SIZE/MEASUREMENTS:

Length: 29 millimeters.

Breadth: 23 millimeters.

Thickness: 7 millimeters.

Gemstone Dimensions: 13mm (diameter); 4 1/2mm (thickness).

Gemstone Weight: 8.26 carats.

Weight: 4.43 grams (excluding gemstone).

Chain: Contemporary gold electroplate 60 centimeters (24 inches). A wide variety of other chains are available upon request in sizes from 16 to 30 inches, and in metals ranging from gold and silver electroplate to sterling silver and solid 14kt gold as well as a bronze-toned copper chain. The default chain (absent contrary instructions) is gold electroplate, 24 inches. For a more authentic touch, we also have available handcrafted Greek black leather cords.

CONDITION: Good. Fragmentary (original pin missing), however fragment is of sound integrity, no cracks, moderate porosity (surface pitting caused by contact with earth while buried). Good finish. Professionally conserved.

DETAIL: This is a very handsome piece of ancient Roman bronze ornamentation. As you can see by observing the reverse, this piece of jewelry started life as a brooch. You can see the remains of the clasp, and you can see where the pivot pin was mounting, holding the brooch pin. Unfortunately the brooch pins were generally constructed of iron, and so decomposed over the centuries. Even if constructed of bronze, the pins were generally so fine that they were either broken during the life of the owner, or decomposed during the thousands of years that the artifact was buried. This particular artifact lost both the brooch pin, the pivot pin which would have held it in place, and the fold in the catch.

Nonetheless, despite the adverse effects of having spent two thousand years buried in soil, fate has been kind, and the brooch has been preserved in wonderful condition. Clearly the brooch evidences some moderate all-over wear, and it appears the in addition to the pin, a small appendage may have been broken off (perhaps similar to the appendage which remains). However this should not be a source for disappointment. You must keep in mind that the brooch was produced by an artisan and sold to a patron or consumer with the idea that the brooch would be enjoyed and worn by the purchaser. And without any regard to twenty-first century posterity, that precisely what happened! The original Roman owner of this brooch wore it, enjoyed it, and probably never could have in his most delusional moment ever dreamed that almost 100 generations later that this piece of jewelry would still exist.

It should likewise come as no surprise that also detectable are the telltale signs that the brooch spent thousands of years in the soil. Porosity is fine surface pitting (oxidation, corrosion) caused by extended burial in caustic soil. Many small ancient metal artifacts such as this are extensively disfigured and suffer substantial degradation as a consequence of the ordeal of being buried for millennia. It is not at all unusual to find metal artifacts decomposed to the point where they are not much more substantial than discolored patterns in the soil. Actually most smaller ancient artifacts such as this are so badly oxidized that oftentimes all that is left is a green (bronze) or red (iron) stain in the soil, or an artifact which crumbles in your hand.

However this specimen is not so heavily afflicted, and certainly has not been disfigured. The pin was lost either to corrosion or breakage (probably the former). However to the cursory inspection of the casual admirer, it simply looks like an ancient piece of jewelry, nicely surfaced, no immediately discernible blemishes. You have to look fairly closely to detect the telltale signs indicating the brooch was buried for millennia. No denying, there is oxidation. However the extent is very modest. This brooch spent almost 2,000 years buried, yet by good fortune there is only a fairly moderate degree of porosity evidenced. It happened to come to rest in reasonably gentle soil conditions. Consequentially, the integrity of the artifact remains undiminished, and despite the wear, the brooch remains quite handsome, and entirely wearable.

Given the extent of the wear evidenced, it is quite likely that the brooch was worn most of a lifetime. The brooch was originally crafted with a recessed center, probably to hold a gemstone, although the recessed center could have been enameled. However it is likely that the recessed center served as a bezel within which was attached a gemstone, probably orange quartz crystal (carnelian), though lapis lazuli, turquoise, and agate were also common gemstones used in jewelry by the Romans. The Romans had a number of different adhesives they used, some of the most common being resin and bitumen. However the brooch was not recovered with the gemstone intact, so we mounted a large, natural, antique, handcrafted dark red agate semi-precious gemstone using jeweler’s epoxy. The gemstone is quite secure, but if you at time in the future wished to remove it, this could easily be accomplished using some thinner or nail polish remover.

The gemstone was produced in the 19th century by Russian artisans famed for centuries for the elaborate jewelry produced using precious and semi-precious gemstones mined in the fabled Southern Ural Mountains of Siberia. Agate has been popularly used through recorded history for the production of jewelry, beads, and amulets due to the vibrant rainbow of colors agate naturally occurs in. Agate amulets produced by Stone Age man in France has been discovered, dating the known use of agate back to approximately 20,000 B.C. Agate was widely used and admired by the ancient Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Persians, Egyptians, etc. Though the gemstone is not as old as the brooch, given the fact that the Romans made wide use of agate in their jewelry, it seemed an appropriate gemstone to enhance this brooch’s beauty.

Various types of ornamental pins and brooches, including the “fibula” (a specialized pin very similar to a modern safety pin) were used by the Roman\'s used to pin the folds of their tunics and cloaks so that the clothing stayed where it belonged. Oftentimes you may see depictions of fibula or ornamental pins in the portrait of a Roman Emperor on coinage, especially that of the third and fourth centuries. This is a fairly elaborate brooch, perhaps not something which would belong to “the rich and famous” (which would have been done in silver or gold); but certainly it would have been considered upper-middle class jewelry. The entire clothing pin, the hinge pin, as well as the folded portion of the pin catch are lost, though you can see the hole into which the pin was fitted into. Generally the very fine pins and hinge “axle” are not recovered intact, as they were so fine that they generally corroded and decomposed over the centuries and millennia of burial. However even without the pin, this is a very handsome ornamental brooch.