Bronze shields of the Late-Celtic period are not by any means common, but the British Museum is fortunate enough to possess the only two perfect specimens now in existence. One of these came out of the River Thames at Battersea, and the other from the River Witham, near Lincoln. The former is, perhaps, on the whole, the most beautiful piece of Late-Celtic metalwork that has survived to the present time. It is of oblong shape with rounded corners like the Gaulish shields,[188] and is made out of plates of thin hammered bronze, strengthened all round the edge by a roll moulding. The body of the shield consists of a plain plate upon which are riveted three circular pieces of ornamental repoussé work, the largest one in the centre, and the other two smaller ones at the top and bottom. In the middle of each of the circular pieces of ornament is a raised boss, the annular space surrounding which is filled in with gracefully flowing =S=- and =C=-shaped curves raised above the rest of the surface, and starting from and returning to small circular plaques of enamel with a swastika design on each. No written description can give any idea of the subtle decorative effect produced by the play of light on the surfaces of the flamboyant curves as they alternately expand and contract in width and rise and fall above the surrounding level background. The drawing of the curves is simply exquisite, and their beauty is greatly enhanced by the sharp line used in all cases to emphasise the highest part of the ridge. It will be observed that the design is set out with regard to small circular bits of enamel placed in definite positions symmetrically round a central boss. If closely coiled spirals like those of the Bronze Age were to be substituted for the enamelled discs, we should then have a style of decoration exactly similar to that of the Christian Celtic MSS. The metalworker who made this shield seems to have possessed the true artistic feeling which told him instinctively exactly how much plain surface of shining bronze should be left to set off the ornament to the greatest advantage. The other shield in the British Museum, from the River Witham, is very inferior to the one just described, and is probably of later date. [188] See article on the Gaulish statue from Montdragon (Vaucluse) now in the Musée Calvet at Avignon in the _Revue Archéologique_, N.S., vol. xvi. (1867), p. 69; also _Diodorus_, bk. 5, ch. 30. [Illustration: IRON DAGGER WITH BRONZE HILT AND SHEATH FROM RIVER WITHAM _Reproduced from Kemble’s “Horæ Ferales”_]