Copper, copper alloy, brooch

A copper alloy brooch in the form of a stag. The body of the animal has three zones of champleve enamel; the forequarters are coloured blue; the belly has three juxtaposed cells of red, blue, red; and the hindquarters were originally red but now appear green. There is a wide selection of zoomorphic brooches from Britain mostly dating from the 2nd century AD, taking the forms of birds and mammals.

Brooches were used like safety pins, buttons and zips are used today. They were functional and held garments together. They were also made to be decorative and often had coloured enamels along the bow. Novelty brooches were also popular.