Fibula Parts, Design and Construction

This page details the basic parts of a fibula, the design and construction of fibulae (bow, plate, spring, hinged, etc), and the materials used to make and decorate fibulae.

From Busuladzic, A. Zbirka antičkih fibula iz Franjevačkog samostana u Tolisi / The Collection of Antique Fibulae from the Franciscan Monastery in Tolisa. (Sarajevo, 2014)., p.31 (modified) PDF

Head|

The head| is the end of the fibula where the pin is articulated by either spring or hinge.

Pin Connections - Springs and Hinges

From Riha, E. Die römischen Fibeln aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. (1979). PDF

The head is the end of the fibula where the pin is articulated by either spring or hinge. There are seven spring connection categories:

1. One-piece construction, spring with four turns, tendon (wire connecting two ends of the spring) below the spring.

Early bow fibula were made from one piece of bronze. The entire fibula from the catch, to the bow, to the spring, to the tip of the pin was created by shaping and bending a single piece of bronze with great expertise and skill. The pin extends from the end of a spring consisting of one or more loops. The tension of the spring helps keep the pin in place. Wire foot (a-b below) is the most common pin catch/holder. The solid foot is a late development.

2. One-piece construction, tendon (wire connecting two ends of the spring) above the spring, held by spring hook.

Again, the entire fibula from the catch, to the bow, to the hook and plate, to the spring, to the tip of the pin was created by shaping and bending a single piece of bronze with great expertise and skill. The pin extends from the end of a spring. The tension of the spring helps keep the pin in place. The hook holding the spring was an invention of the Augustan period, which did not go beyond the 1st century. Predominantly group 2 fibulae are open/framed foot, or perforated foot, but occasionally also solid foot.

3. Two-piece construction with a pin holding the spring.

One-piece construction was rapidly replaced by the much easier to manufacture two-piece construction in the middle of the 1st century A.D. The pin spring holder remained in use until late in the Roman period, primarily in free Germania and the adjacent areas of the Roman provinces. For group 3, the needle holders are not of uniform shape. The needle catches tend to be higher than other groups, some are tubular.

4. Two-piece construction with spring sleeve.

This group is characteristic of the Gallic regions (Gaul to the Rhine, otherwise rare). Predominantly open/framed foot, or perforated foot, but occasionally also solid foot.

5: Bow Fibula with an Sleeve Hing, Early Imperial - Beginning of 2nd Century.

This type probably originated in Italy. It became the most popular form of closure for Roman provincial fibulae, and is characteristic of the bow brooches from the early imperial times to the beginning of the 2nd century. Outside the Roman Empire and after that time, this type of hing was seldom used. The sleeve hinge consists of a small sleeve at the top of the head which is forged from a square sheet metal plate and then rolled up. In a center-cut slot, the spiked needle is inserted and held by a shaft (usually iron) passing through the whole sleeve. At the ends of each of the Aucissa fibulae and their early successors were buttons holding the hinge axis; later, the hinge axis was clamped in the sleeve and needed no buttons. The needle always carries a thorn-like projection on its perforated oval plate, which beats against the head of the fibula and, by virtue of this resistance, causes the suspension to spring forth. The sleeve hinge is used exclusively in bow fibulae. The needle is primarily rectilinear, but bends hand in hand with the flattening of the bow to the outside to continue to leave enough space between the bracket and needle. For group 5, triangular to quadrangular (i-m below) solid plate needle holders are characteristic, but now and then they also have a simple perforation. The sleeve hinge is considered a typical Roman construction. The sleeve hinge fibulae are by far the largest group of Roman fibulae in terms of numbers.

6: Bow Fibula with a Tubular Hinge, c. End 2nd Century - Late Roman Period.

Around the end of the second century, perhaps in connection with a change in the production of fibulae, the tube hinge was introduced. It was the primary hing form in the Middle and Late Roman period. Like the hinge in general, this construction is limited to the Roman provinces. The hinge system itself functions like that of group 5. The hinge arms, however, are cast or well soldered and always larger than those of the sleeve hinge and lengthen and thicken over time: at the end are the massive or hollow cross arms of the onion button brooches. The pin is not held in place by lateral buttons, but is clamped. The needle has the same shape as in group 5. Sometimes, however, it has no thorn-like projection to push the needle outward so security measures to keep the needle in the catch-plate were necessary. The fibulae of group 6 are, with a few exceptions, showing high needle holders (n-p below) with disc or foot-shaped feet. This construction is characteristic of the late Roman period.

7. Plate fibula Jaw Hinge

Jaw Hinge Brooches. This jaw hinge is characteristic of provincial Roman disc brooches of the 1st and 2nd centuries and was not popular outside the Roman provinces. The jaw hinge consists of two small parallel standing plates ("jaws"), between which the needle is inserted and fixed on an axis (usually iron). The hing is always mounted on the back side of the fibulae or brooch, so it remains invisible in use. The jaw hinge is used exclusively for Roman disc brooches and their relatives (fibula with head plate) in which the construction of the suspension is hidden behind a plate (disc or head plate). The associated needle is usually bent.

8. Penannular Fibula rotary fastener pin.

Penannular fibula use a rotary fastener pin. Ring and omega brooches held the fabric pieces together in a completely different way than the other fibulae closure constructions. The cloth was pierced at the desired location. The needle tip was passed between the ends of the ring. The ring was then rotated 90 degrees under the needle tip. The fabric pressed the needle on the hanger and kept the fibula closed.

Foot

The foot is the opposite end from the head and is where the pin is closed in a pin-catch or pin-rest.

Catch

The pin-catch, or pin-rest, is where the end of the pin is fixed when the fibula is closed. It is on the underside of the foot. It can be at the beginning, middle or end of the foot, or extend along the entire foot. The shape of the catch is often used to identify fibula types and dates. The catch is often a flange extending along the bottom of the foot and is bent over at the bottom to create a channel for the pin to rest in. Different forms include a hollow channel in the side of a thick foot (as found on many late crossbow types) or a narrow hook set perpendicular to the bow.

Image: The catch on this knee fibula is a hook set perpendicular to the axis of the bow. (SC Collection)

Image: This broken iron crossbow fibula has a hollow-channel type catch in its foot. (SC Collection)

The pin, whether part of the fibula body (one-piece) or separate (two-piece), is a pointed wire used to fasten the fibula to fabric. It starts at the head, where it is articulated by a spring or hinge, and ends at the catch, where it is fixed when the fibula is closed. A few fibula types have two pins, running parallel on either side of the bow and ending in a tray-like catch.

Unilateral Spring

The spring winds around to one side only of the pin. It does not cross over the bow, and pin, and continue winding on the other side. They may wind in one, two or more rarely three, four or more loops. They tend to be earlier than similar bi-lateral types.

Plain Bilateral Spring (starts 3rd c BC)

The spring winds in one or more loops on one side of the pin and then crosses over, or under, the bow and continues with more loops on the other side. The distinction between the spring-chord crossing over (external) versus under the bow head (internal) can help determine type and age. In some cases the spring-chord is fixed by a hook as it passes over, or under the bow. The spring can have one, two, three, four or even ten or more loops on each side of the bow. Very wide springs tend to have axis-pins inserted to help them retain their shape. In some cases the ends of the axis-pins are fitted with small knobs.

Image: This Dacian type bent-foot fibula has a short bilateral spring. It has three loops per side for six total. The spring-chord passes under the bow and is thus an internal chord.

Image: This fibula, a Germanic-variation of the Knee type, has a very wide bilateral spring. It has nine loops, or winds, on each side for a total of 18, and has small spherical knobs on the ends of the hinge pin. The spring-chord passes over the bow, where it is secured by a hook on the plaque on the end of the bow, and is thus an external chord.

Covered Bilateral Spring

The bilateral spring is partially, or mostly, covered with a housing, often cylindrical in form.

Image: This knee fibula has a bilateral spring covered by a cylindrical housing. (SC Collection)

Image: An underside view of the knee fibula shown in the image above. The bilateral spring, with 9 or 10 winds, is almost entirely contained in the cylindrical housing. (SC Collection)

Bow Fibula with Hinge

The fibula pin is a separate piece from the bow and turns around an axis-pin. The pin has no tension. The ends of the axis-pin may be held by simple bends, hammering the end flat (like a rivet), or with the addition of knobs, although sometimes it is only held in by a tight fit. The axis-pin may be made from copper-alloy or more commonly from iron.

Folded Hinge

The head of the bow is folded over (hand-forged by a smith). There is a small lateral channel in this fold for the axis-pin.

Hinge Folded Under

The bow head is folded under so that the end can not be seen while the fibula is worn.

Image: This image of the back of the head of a broken Wolf type fibula shows where the head has been folded under to create a lateral channel for the hinge-pin. Though it can't be seen in this photo the hinge-pin is still rusted in place. A small part of the copper-alloy fibula pin is still in place though it is broken off close to the hinge. (SC Collection)

Hinge Folded Over

More rarely the bow head is folded forward and the end can be seen at the front of the fibula.

Image: The head of this Wolf type fibula was folded up over the front of the head to form a lateral channel for the axis-pin. The end is thus visible on the front of the head (right side of photo). (SC Collection)

Moulded Hinge Channel

The head is cast with a moulded lateral channel for the axis-pin. This is more common than the folded type.

Image: This Hrusica fibula has a lateral channel for the axis-pin moulded into the design. The two ends of the axis-pin are secured by a pair of large knobs. (SC Collection)

Hinge In Transverse Bar (starts 3rd c AD)

A wide transverse bar, making a T-form at the head of the fibula contains a notch. These fibulae have a cross-bow shape. The flattened end of the pin, with a hole in it, is inserted into this notch. A long axis-pin runs through a hollow channel in the transverse bar and fixes the pin in place. The axis-pin may be held in by knobs at the ends of the transverse bar or not.

Screw Mechanism

In some very late crossbow fibulae (Keller/Pröttel type V and VI) the pin is held in place in the transverse bar by the end of a one of the knobs (usually the left knob with the fibulae head facing upwards). This knob extends into a long pin. The upper part is threaded and screws into female threads in the hollow channel in the transverse bar. The lower part of this pin is pointed and goes through the hole in the flattened end of the fibula pin.

Bow Fibula with Pivot

A few early Greek and later Phrygian fibula types use a pivot instead of a spring or hinge.

Plate Fibulae

Plate fibulae have a body that is generally flat and wide. The pin usually runs very close to the body. Plate fibulae are thus not useful for fastening fabric together and are usually only decorative. They come in a huge variety of forms and shapes.

Image: A selection of different plate fibula types. (SC Collection)

Plate Fibula with Spring

A spring is attached to the back of the plate, either fitted in a loop or soldered. Such springs are almost always bilateral and usually have three or four loops on each side.

Image: The reverse of this Celtic style Roman open work plate fibula has a spring instead of a hinge. It is a bilateral spring with four loops, or winds, on each side for a total of eight loops. (SC Collection)

Plate Fibula with Hinge

The pin is fixed to the reverse of the plate with a hinge fitted to either one or, more usually, two flanges. The flanges are usually semi-circular and are usually cast as part of the fibula body. The flanges have a hole in them for the short axis-pin.

Image: The reverse of this Roman plate fibula clearly shows a double plaque arrangement for hinge. The hinge was iron and has mostly disappeared though some rust spots can be seen. Opposite the double plaque is the catch - in this case a simple flange folded over to retain the pin end. (SC Collection)

Fibula Construction Material

Material of the Fibula Body

The body of the fibula was usually made of a copper-alloy such as bronze, brass/orichalcum, alloys like modern gun-metal or even pure copper. Iron fibulae are common among many Celtic and Germanic groups, but are rare for the Greeks and Romans proper. Silver fibulae were used by many cultures, though in small numbers. Gold fibulae, generally limited to museum collections, were used in the late Roman era and by a few other cultures.

Image: This Germanic Almgren 101 type trumpet fibula is made entirely of silver. As is usual for silver fibula the fibula pin (and spring) and the axis-pin are in silver as well as the body.

Material of the Pin, Spring and/or Hinge Axis-pin

The pins were usually made of the same material as the fibula body though sometimes copper-alloy fibulae are found with iron pins.

Hinge axis-pins can be iron or copper-alloy.

Decoration

Copper-alloy fibulae bodies can be decorated with gold gilding, silvering or tinning. They may be inlaid with niello (a lustrous black paste made from silver sulphide) or enamel. They may have small pieces of glass-paste, glass, millifiore glass, bone, coral, semi-precious or even precious stones attached. Some Greek fibulae had bone, amber or stone discs fitted around a narrow bow.

Image: This early tied-foot fibula has a simple incised decoration on its bronze bow. It has three circles at each end and a rayed central design that might be a galley. (SC Collection)

Image: This Roman plate fibula is decorated with enamel and with millefiori glass.

Silver fibulae are occasionally gilded and can have neillo or, more rarely enamel inlay. Iron fibulae are usually not decorated but can have silvering. Some post-Roman East Germanic fibulae have gold, silver or copper wire inlay.

References

Busuladzic, A. Zbirka antičkih fibula iz Franjevačkog samostana u Tolisi / The Collection of Antique Fibulae from the Franciscan Monastery in Tolisa. (Sarajevo, 2014). PDF
Riha, E. Die römischen Fibeln aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. (1979). PDF