Ca. 300-400 AD. An excellent collection of four bronze crossbow brooches, each with three onion-like protrusions, an arched bow, rectangular tail and surviving pin. Crossbow brooches, used for fastening cloaks were an international late Roman type, and were often worn by men in positions of authority, in the military or civil bureaucracy, but also by women. A famous ivory diptych, now Monza, Italy, depicts Stilicho, the head of the Western Roman military under the Emperor Honorius in the years around 400 AD, along with his wife, Serena, and son, Eucherios. Both Stilicho and Eucherios wear crossbow brooches to fasten the cloaks on their right shoulders, indicating the importance of this type of dress accessory for those in positions of authority. Excellent condition.Size: L:76- 55mm / W:48-34mm ; 115gProvenance: From the private collection of a South London art professional; previously in a collection formed on the UK/European art market in the 1980s;