Double Spectacle Brooch

This brooch was attached by a fastening like a modern safety pin where the pin is hinged at one end and held in place at the other by a hook. The earliest examples of this type of brooch were made in central Europe around 1000 BC but they only had two spirals and so looked like a modern pair of spectacles, hence the name. Examples with four spirals like this were first made in Greece but their use spread to Italy and some other parts of Europe. On this example each of the four spirals was made separately and then attached to the single piece back plate and pin by rivets.