Where from?

No maker's mark. Looks like a dark carved wood with applied gold on a sterling back.

 

Am I correct in concluding this is a brooch?

 

Bog oak? That's an old rollover clasp.

 

It's a fir/pine cone of a particular species which my brain thinks it's too late at night to remember. That's going to be a huge clue to origin. An ancient conifer, too.

Back when the synapses kick in.

 

Bog wood,three types oak,yew,pine .... https://www.maureenmcghee.com/about/history-of-bog-oak/

 

Horsetail / equisetum.

 

I am wondering if it might be Japanese. They use various techniques to patinate metals, creating a variety of colors, called irogane. Often used in combination with gold. You see it on tsuba (sword fittings), and later on jewelry. It could create the dark brown color on this brooch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irogane

Horsetails grows in Japan, where they "are often viewed with nostalgia, a certain fondness as a herald of spring, and as a wild vegetable".
https://wildinjapan.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/quick-plant-profile-horsetail/

 

I like the idea, 2many, but I hate the plant (which grows here too and is impossible to get rid of.)

 

No natural enemies!

 

That's it! Equisetum. Thank you. I knew it was an ancient plant, but my botany synapse had given up on me.

I think that looks metal, not wooden.

 

Maybe lacquered metal?
Did you check the pin for marks?

I had trouble distinguishing the black brooch from the black computer keys, btw. Maybe a white piece of paper for a background next time?

 

Shakudo/Menuki, Japan!

 

I did think it could be a menuki design, but then thought no. Don't ask why.
After the ban on wearing katanas (Samurai swords), the menuki makers turned to making jewellery instead, mostly with shakudo inlay.
But this is a different style of jewellery.
Maybe an old menuki mounted on a silver back? Possibly done in the West?

The position of a menuki on a katana hilt:

 

Can't really tell what it is made of from the photos,doubt that the piece is shakudo since the black patina and the "gold" would have been burned off when it was soldered to the pin base.

 

Simple way to know is try a magnet
I seriously doubt it is bog oak

 

A magnet would only say the piece is magnetic or not,it would not tell what the base material is.

 

Menuki/shakudo sould be attracted, bog oak or any wood, not

 

It may be pinned on anyhow, rather than soldered. I think krya has it right.

 

Shakudo is copper and not magnetic.