Museum collections are sometimes created by chance: one lucky dig on a building site brings a buried treasure to light. This brooch, which was used to tie a large garment at the shoulder, unites intertwined human experiences: the story of the craftsmen who made it according to the style of the time, the story of the last woman who wore it during the 7th century and the story of the person who unearthed it. The latter was Hippolyte Lamproye. He was 22 years old and was employed during the day at the Moxhe brickyard (in the province of Liège). On Thursday, 11 June 1874, the young Hippolyte, removing a little clay from the walls of an extraction pit, found "treasure". In addition to this jewel, it contained two ceramics, a fragment of glass, a pin from a belt buckle, a bracelet and a bronze ring, as well as pearls of amber and glass paste. Hippolyte Lamproye collected the objects and entrusted them to Count Georges de Looz-Corswarem. The artefacts, which were handed over by the latter to the Liège Archaeological Institute, were then deposited at the Liège Museum.
