The  Ring-  or  Penannular-  Brooch  is  a  common  object  in  almost
every  collection  of  Romano-British  antiquities.  It  is  a  simple
yet  ingenious  contrivance.  After  inserting  the  pin  in  the  dress,
the  ring  was  revolved  until  its  gap  was  above  the  point ;
then  the  pin  was  pressed  down,  and  the  pin  having  passed
through  the  gap,  the  brooch  was  '  locked '  by  giving  it  a
quarter-turn,  the  pressure  of  the  dress  within  the  brooch  main-
taining the  ring  in  this  position.  These  brooches  were  rarely
larger  than  i£  ins.  in  diameter,  and  their  decoration  was  almost
exclusively  confined  to  the  terminals  of  their  rings.  The  simplest
terminals  were  effected  by  hammering  back  the  ends  of  the  wire
of  the  ring,  as  in  Fig.  75,  C,  the  returns  being  slightly  ornamented


FIG.  75.—'  Plate'  and  '  Ring'  Brooches,  Studs,  and  other  Dress  Fasteners.     (All  {)

260


DRESS  AND  THE  TOILET  261

by  groovings.  More  pleasing  terminals  were  knobs,  which  were
usually  grooved  longitudinally.  In  a  variant  of  this,  as  in  D,  a
Guildhall  example,  the  knobs  are  bent  back,  and  the  ends  of  the  wire
were  sometimes  flattened  and  made  to  imitate  serpents'  heads.
In  E,  from  West  Coker,  the  terminals  are  rectangular  plates.
It  is  remarkable  that  the  ring-brooch  should  not  have  got
beyond  an  elementary  stage  in  Roman  times,  considering  its
wonderful  developments  a  few  centuries  later,  especially  in
Ireland  and  Scotland;  but  these  developments,  it  must  be
admitted,  seriously  reduced  the  usefulness  of  this  form  of  brooch.
