Khan Academy: Great Square Headed Brooch From Chessell Down

Because buttons and zippers hadn't been invented, clothes in Anglo-Saxon England were fastened with pins or brooches. This fine silver-gilt and niello brooch is perhaps the most beautiful of all surviving great square-headed brooches. The casting reveals an artist in complete mastery of his material and current art styles. The brooch was found by George Hillier in 1855 in the grave of a woman, together with two stamped pendants, a pair of tweezers, and iron knife and a waist buckle. It was probably made in the first quarter of the sixth century.