The Battersea Shield
- Audio guide stop: 442
- Gallery: Room 50
- Culture: Iron Age; La Tène
- Date: 350 BC - 50 BC (circa)
- Object type: shield
- Materials: bronze; glass
- Museum number: 1857,0715.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is "The Battersea Shield," a fascinating bronze shield facing from the Iron Age. What you see is not a full shield but its ornate covering, once attached to a wooden backing. Made from multiple bronze sheets and panels, it’s held together with invisible rivets and a bronze binding strip.
The decoration is centered in three striking roundels. At the heart of the middle one is a raised boss where the original handle would have attached. Stylish La Tène-style patterns adorn the surface, created using repoussé, engraving, and delicate stippling. These designs include palmettes and interlocking S-motifs, while twenty-seven red glass "enamel" framed studs—ranging in size—add color and emphasis.
Despite its intricate design, this shield has no close stylistic relatives, making it hard to date precisely. However, its form suggests it was crafted in Britain. Interestingly, its rich surface was not gilded, as later analysis has shown.
Recovered from the River Thames in Battersea, this shield dates to between 350 and 50 BC.
See it in person
The Battersea Shield is on display in Room 50 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 442, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
