The exquisite brooch is decorated with a lion recumbent on a bed of flowers. The details are enhanced with very fine granulation; the lion and flowers are worked in repoussé.

Before the adoption of fitted tunics and the Roman toga, clothes required pinning at the shoulders, sides, and on the arms. The brooches used for this comprised an arched element and a pin with a coiled spring. The bow and catch-plate took various forms, and were usually decorated. Early Etruscan types included a simple curved bow, the undulating "serpentine", and the thick hollow-cast leech-shape. Later types became smaller and simpler.