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Description: | A gilt copper alloy brooch fragment; the decorative pin head from an annular brooch. The brooch is Irish and dates from the eighth or ninth century. The fragment is 45mm long, 7.6mm wide and 10.5mm thick. It weighs 22.5g and is in good condition.
The pin head is basically lozenge shaped and consists of a central lozenge shaped recess with four sub-rectangular panels round it. The panels are linked by sub-circular settings. A semi-circular cell projects from the outer edge of each panel. This style is very characteristically Irish, with the panels containing fine chip-carved interlace separated by bold ridged borders. At the base of the pin head is a tapered rectangular projection which steps down at the end where it is decorated with six horizontal grooves. The upper part of the projection is decorated with incised spirals forming a stylised animal head. The metal is solid but there is some green corrosion. Much of the gilding survives. It is possible that there was once a filigree panel in the central lozenge.
The reverse of the pin head is mainly flat and the edges are rounded. Two rounded parallel lugs project near the top which have another piece of metal surviving between them. In line with these lugs, but at the bottom of the pin head is a pair of raised ridges. It seems likely that the pin itself fitted between the ridges and was attached to the lugs. It probably arched over the frame which would have fitted through the gap between the ridges and the lugs. There is white material surviving between the ridges and the lugs which may be remains of solder used to fix the pin head to the shaft. This technique can be paralleled on a brooch from Mull, number 75 in ??The Work of Angels??, which is of Irish manufacture. This example is also gilded copper alloy has roundels at each corner of the lozenge. The design is interpreted as a cross with roundels at the end of each arm, and the top of the shaft as a stylised animal head. It dates from the eighth century (R. M. Spearman and M Ryan, 1989).
Another parallel is the annular brooch from Tara, number 77 in ??The Work of Angels??. This has a similar pin head but the head is riveted to the shaft. This silver gilt brooch has been attributed to the ninth century (Youngs, 1989).
Evidence from documentary sources and sculptures suggest that these brooches were worn by both men and women, singly on the chest by women, or on the shoulder by men (Geake pers comm.). The presence of Irish metalwork in England is best explained by trade and the recycling of decorative metalwork in the ninth and tenth centuries. Many Irish mounts of a similar date to this brooch fragment have been found in England and they provide evidence that many highly decorative semi-precious items were coming from Ireland in the ninth and tenth centuries as well as bullion and silver jewellery (Youngs 2001). One such example is the gilded casket mount with interlace decoration on display at Doncaster Museum. | Subjects: | Annular | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Cooper, Amy - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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