A fine dress pin cast from bronze. The pin features a stylised floral head, consisting of a central globular ovary, which rises to a short neck with a wide and flat top, imitating the shape of a flower’s style and stigma. Pointed calyxes line the lower half of the body, placed between small protrusions. The pin is enriched with four trumpet-shaped projections spaced equally apart. The pin tapers to a plain lower narrow shank, terminating to a point. Encircling grooves decorate the upper shank, just underneath the head. Patination and earthly encrustations to the surface. In Mesopotamia, simple garment pins appear to be some of the earliest artefacts made from metal, surpassing the tools and weapons of the area. They are superior both in terms of quantity, and in the variety of form and decoration, with basic shapes persisting for long amounts of time. Designs fluctuated according to popularity; floral pins appeared in the late 10th Century BC but by the 8th century were outnumbered by more geometric forms of pin head. The pin-makers of Western Mesopotamia took their inspiration from the local flora and fauna, though it is difficult to determine precisely which fruits, flowers, or animals were used in the decoration. However blacksmiths did not create an individual range of motifs for their floral pins and they were instead content to follow patterns which vary only slightly between regions. That said, the most common sources of artistic inspiration in both Greece and the Middle East seem to have been the poppy and pomegranate. Measurements: L 22.4cm x W 3.1cm Provenance: Ex London Collection, formed between 1990-present.