Comb Brooch

This comb brooch has been assembled from twenty fragments, the central section of which consists of a rectangular silver plate, over which was folded a gold sheet decorated with thirteen hemispherical beads within thin wire frames. Serpentine wire soldered between twisted wires forms the border on all four edges. Attached to the back, thicker silver wires, which have been folded into ten pairs of loops, project from both long sides of the central plate. Two assemblies of ten separately made hooks (one is lacking) are threaded through the loops. On the top of each long, curved prong is a single hemispherical bead and a short length of serpentine filigree within twisted wires. Comb brooches such as this example are relatively rare. The closest parallels are found in the cemeteries in Marsiliana d’Albegna, Vetulonia, and several other northern Etruscan settlements, where burials replete with luxury objects in precious metals, ivory, amber, glass, and bronze have been uncovered. Large brooches of gold and silver were used to fasten a mantle at the shoulder, and were primarily worn by men. From the southern Etruscan site of Cerveteri, male ancestor figures in the Tomb of the Five Chairs don a rounded mantle secured at the right shoulder with a similar brooch. Standing out against the red plaid textile, their clasps were prominent badges of honor and wealth.