Roscrea Brooch
Roscrea brooch | |
---|---|
Material | silver, amber, gold filigree[1] |
Size | Height 9.5 cm, width 8.3 cm, depth 0.6 cm |
Created | (early?) 9th century |
Discovered | c. 1829 Roscrea, County Tipperary, or nearby |
Present location | National Museum of Ireland, Dublin |
Identification | NMI P.737[2] |
The Roscrea brooch is a 9th-century
It was rediscovered in the 1820s and was in the possession of the artist and
Replicas of the brooch became popular from the mid-19th century Celtic Revival, some of which are of a high quality.[5] Despite the loss of some of its bosses, is in overall good condition, and is today in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.
Dating
The brooch is variously dated as from the early (Mitchell) to late (O'Toole/NMI) 9th century. Writing in 1983, historian Micheal Ryan gave a probable dating of the mid to late-9th century,[2] and Henderson notes that its zoomorphic iconography has parallels with Scottish designs of that period.[6]
The brooch, and the 8th century Book of Dimma found at Roscrea Abbey, and Stowe Missal from the nearby village of Lorrha, indicate the relative prosperity of the town during the period.[7] In 1993, the historian Orna Somerville noted how, by the 8th century, brooch rings such as the current example and those found in the Hill of Tara and at Killamery, "had ceased to be functional and was primarily a vehicle for elaborate decoration".[8]
Description
The brooch is of the pseudo-penannular type (i.e. the ring is fully closed, but has two separately defined terminals).[9][10] It weighs 122.85 grams,[2] and is 9.5 cm high and 8.3 cm wide,[4] and is made from cast silver, amber and gold. The brooch has an overall lozenge shape,[8] with a large flat triangular head and crest of rounded compartments decorated with gold filigree. The 8 cm long pin[11] emerges through the mouth of a basal animal, and is attached to both the front and back sides of the plate.[12][13] The pinhead contains pairs of concentric relief rings decorated with filigree.[14] Both the pinhead and plate are decorated with rows of dots.[12] The three main panels are also decorated with filigree,[10] The outer edges of the terminals contain a pair of animals separated by an amber stud on the terminal's outer edges.[15] Their bodies are co-joined from the area around their tails, a motif also found in a brooch found in Derryloughan, County Tyrone and in the 8th- or 9th-century Derrynaflan Chalice.[16][17]
Its depictions of animals are of both the Tara (c. 710–750 AD) type strap-like (flat) and Killamery Brooch (9th century) tube-like body (rounded) forms, and is thus considered to be a transitional work between these two periods.[12][18] The animals are in places open-jawed,[19] and generally are positioned in rectangular panels and given rounded, ribbon-like bodies.[20]
Only three of the seven large hemispherical amber bosses (raised circular ornamental studs) are intact; one been lost and three are badly damaged.[10] It originally had twenty-four in-filled D-shaped panels, of which, according to historian Niamh Whitfield: "eleven were D-shaped amber studs alternating with filigree, except at the top of the pinhead, where all four D-shaped panels contained filigree. Of these D-shaped amber studs, however, a fragment of just one survives at the edge of the right terminal."[11]
Although its design is not as refined or sophisticated as other contemporary Irish brooches, and has been described "crude"
The influence of contact with recent Viking invaders is evident in two ways, most notably from its composition from high quality silver, which would have been near impossible to source locally. In addition, amber could only be sourced from Scandinavia[23] or the Baltic region,[22] and is rarely found in Irish metalwork before the 9th century.[24] Both these facts indicate that its workmen were able to trade with the invading Norsemen. In addition, a number of large bosses contain Viking-influenced designs,[10] including of kite shaped brooches[21][25] and depictions of thistles.[1][26]
Find-spot and provenance
It was in the possession of the artist,
It was acquired in 1867 by the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, as part of a larger purchase of Petrie's entire collection, following his death the previous year.[29][31] It is today on permanent display in the Treasury room of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
References
Citations
- ^ Irish Times, 5 November 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2021
- ^ a b c Ryan (1983), p. 145
- ^ a b c Briggs (2017), p. 74
- ^ a b "The Roscrea Brooch: the story behind the jewellery". Claddagh Design, 16 October 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2021
- ^ "Roscrea Brooch, early 20th century". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 7 June 2021
- ^ Henderson; Henderson (2004), p. 106–107
- ^ Stout (1991), p. 206
- ^ a b c Somerville (1993), p. 77
- ^ Mitchell et al (2013), p. 153
- ^ a b c d Briggs (2017), p. 78
- ^ a b Whitfield (1990), p. 150, quoted in Briggs (2017) p. 78
- ^ a b c d Mitchell et al (2013), p. 177
- ^ Youngs (1989), p. 78
- ^ Ryan (1987), p. 78
- ^ Bourke (1985), p. 153
- ^ Ryan (1983), p. 144
- ^ Bourke (1985), p. 157
- ^ Graham-Campbell (1972), pp. 113–128
- ^ Somerville (1993), p. 70
- ^ Somerville (1993), p. 69
- ^ a b Youngs (1989), p. 98
- ^ a b O'Toole (2013), p. 38
- ^ Kelly (1984), p. 73
- ^ Kelly (1984), pp.73–76
- ^ Somerville (1993), p. 67
- ^ Moss (2014), pp. 45–46, 317
- ^ Briggs (2017), pp. 82–83
- ^ McCrum (1985), p. 18
- ^ a b Briggs (2017), p. 84
- ^ Briggs (2017), pp. 74, 77
- ^ Briggs (2017), p. 77
Sources
- Bourke, Cormac. "A Crozier and Bell from Inishmurray and Their Place in Ninth-Century Irish Archaeology". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, volume 85C, 1985. JSTOR 25506128
- Briggs, Stephen. "The Roscrea Brooch Re-Provenanced?". Ulster Journal of Archaeology, volume 74, 2017. JSTOR 26788433
- Graham-Campbell, James. "Two Groups of Ninth-Century Irish Brooches". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 102, no. 2 1972. JSTOR 25509787
- Henderson, George; Henderson, Isabel. The Art of the Picts, Sculpture and Metalwork in Early Medieval Scotland. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. ISBN 978-0-5002-8963-1
- Kelly, Eamonn. "A Prehistoric Amber Find from Ballylin, Co. Offaly". Journal of the Roscrea Heritage Society, no. 2, 1983–84
- McCrum, Elizabeth. "Irish Victorian Jewellery". Irish Arts Review (1984-1987), nolume 2, no. 1, Spring, 1985. JSTOR 20491715
- Mitchell, Frank (ed.). Treasures of Early Irish Art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. NY: ISBN 978-0-3002-0170-3
- Moss, Rachel. Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland. Yale University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-3001-7919-4
- Ó Floinn, Raghnall. Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2002
- ISBN 978-0-7171-2829-7
- Ryan, Micheal. Ireland and Insular Art, A.D.500-1200: Conference Proceedings. Dublin: ISBN 978-0-9017-1454-1
- Ryan, Micheal. Treasures of Ireland: Irish Art, 3000 B.C.-1500 A.D.. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1983. ISBN 978-0-9017-1428-2
- Somerville, Orna. "Kite-Shaped Brooches". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 123, 1993. JSTOR 25509045
- Stout, Matthew. "Ringforts in the South-West Midlands of Ireland". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, volume 91C, 1991. JSTOR 25516082
- Whitfield, Niamh. "Celtic Filigree from the Seventh to the Ninth Century AD with Particular Reference to that on Brooches", volume 3 (Three volume PHD thesis, quoted in Briggs, 2017). University of London, 1990
- Young, Susan (ed). The Work of Angels: Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork, 6th–9th centuries AD. London: ISBN 978-0-7141-0554-3