Fibula with Animal Foreparts

The protomes of two stylized lions join at the waist on this fibula, forming the bow (1). The lions are similar; the faces are broad and flat, with circular eyes, triangular ears, and prominent snouts. Fur is represented by incised wavy lines around the heads and chests. The backs of the animals are joined at a notched circular ring. The undecorated forelegs of both animals are extended; the paws of one are above the cross bar, which has a cylindrical covered spring. The paws of the other rest on a transverse bar, mimicking the shape of the cross bar, which then narrows into the catchplate. The top of the piriform catchplate (widest at the foot) is decorated with a faint human face, rendered in a globular style; the general shapes of the head, eyes, nose, and mouth are visible, as is perhaps a beard. The pin of the fibula is missing. Examples of this type of fibula have been found particularly in south-central France; it is possible that they were made by a workshop in southern Gaul (2). The stylized head on the catchplate may also be related to the so-called Celtic “Cult of the Head” (3). NOTES: 1. Compare M. Feugère, Les fibules en Gaule méridionale de la conquête à la fin du Ve s. ap. J.-C., Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise, Suppl. 12 (Paris, 1985) 278-79, type 18b4. 2. Ibid., 278-79, 285, and 287. 3. Ibid., 285. For the cultic interest in heads, see M. Green, Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art (London, 1989) 211-14; and M. B. Löffler and J. T. Koch, “Head Cult” in Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, 3, ed. J. T. Koch (Santa Barbara, 2006) 895-98. Lisa M. Anderson