METAL. 



225 



There are a number of splendid gold plaques in the Heye collection, the most 

 interesting being illustrated in figure 379. It is circular and made of relatively 

 thick sheet gold. All the repousse work on it seems to have been done from 

 the back. Near the margin are two circles of raised points. Within this field are 

 five large embossments, each surrounded by a single row of raised points. The 

 disk is supplied with two pairs of perforations for suspension, the outer pair having 

 been made after a crack had penetrated to one of the original holes. The two 

 small holes near the margin are the result of mending the break. The large emboss- 

 ments are realistic representations of the female breast, even the nipple being 

 faithfully rendered. A girl before marriage is supposed to wear a plaque with 



Fig. 379. Large gold plaque with five embossments representing the human 

 breast. Heye collection. '/' 



a single breast, while after marriage a plaque with a pair of mammae may be 

 worn. Mr. Heye has one small piece of sheet gold with but a single breast 

 design. 



The Heye collection includes two other gold plaques, almost identical in size 

 with that in the foregoing figure. One has two circles of raised points about 

 the margin ; the other, which is exceedingly thin, has a circular indentation near 

 the margin but no embossments. Both are convex on the front, while the plaque 

 with the five mammae is perfectly flat save for the repousse work. The piece 

 reproduced in figure 380 also belongs to the Heye collection, and is of special 

 interest because the repousse work is not all done from the same side, it being 

 sunken except the circle near the margin which is raised. The central field is 

 convex. 



MEMOIRS CONN. ACAD., Vol. III. 29 



