THE CELTIC BROOCH
In order to understand the condition of the arts in the more remote
parts of the British Isles, subsequent to the introduction of
Christianity towards the middle of the fifth century, one must remember
the situation created by the invasions of the Teutonic tribes, whereby
nearly the whole of northern and western Europe relapsed into paganism,
while Ireland and the western highlands of Scotland alone remained
faithful to the Christian Church. During the earlier centuries of this
period, the designs and processes of the Celtic crafts, nurtured in
these parts of the British Isles by the Church, undisturbed by invaders,
and free from outside influences, were brought to a state of high
perfection.
The introduction of Christianity into Ireland by St. Patrick, who
doubtless brought with him European craftsmen, had greatly encouraged
the production of metal-work; and though changes in design resulted,
the spiral patterns characteristic of Celtic art were retained for a
considerable length of time--longer in fact than in any other quarters.
It is unfortunate, however, that while a number of objects of early
Christian art from Ireland and the Scottish highlands have survived,
there is scarcely a single article of jewellery which is prior in date
to about the ninth century A.D.
The chief personal ornaments belonging to this later period, i.e.
the ninth century onwards, are a number of remarkable objects known
as Celtic brooches. The Celtic brooch, as far as its origin and
development are concerned, shows no kinship with the bow or disc-shaped
brooches already described, though, like them, it probably originated
among the primitive Celts of the Danubian region. One theory derives its
evolution from what is known as a ring-pin, that is a simple pin, the
head of which, primarily solid, was afterwards pierced and fitted with
a ring, which in course of time increased in size and became highly
ornamented. Another theory traces the Celtic brooch from a combination
of a long pin with the ancient dress fasteners--penannular rings
furnished with knobs--such as are found in prehistoric graves, and are
even now worn by the natives of West Africa. This penannular brooch has
been found not only in Scotland and Ireland, but as far east as Livonia,
and is actually still in use in Algeria at the present day. Its
peculiarity consists in the great size of its pin--one in the British
Museum measures 22½ inches--the length of the pin being supposed to
have corresponded to the rank of its owner.[24] In some of the earlier
forms the ring is of the same breadth all round, and merely cut across
in one place for the passage of the pin. But as a rule this penannular
ring terminates in knobs, and when the pin which travels round the ring
has pierced the portions of the garments it is intended to unite, the
ring is pushed a little to one side and prevented by the terminal knobs
from becoming unloosened.[25]
[24] _Proc. Soc. Antiq._, 2nd Series, XIX, p. 304. Such long stout
pins could only have served to fasten coarse, loosely woven fabrics.
[25] J. R. Allen (_Celtic Art_, p. 219) describes the exact function
of this brooch, and illustrates its use in ancient and modern times.
(See also _Reliquary_, 2nd Series, I, p. 162. 1894.)
The developments in the form of this brooch show its evolution from a
penannular to an annular ring. In some--probably the earliest--examples,
the ring and the head of the pin terminate in bulbous knobs, or in
spherical ends ornamented with Celtic designs and animals' heads. In
others the ends of the rings and the pin-heads are broadened, in order
to provide space for an elaborate surface decoration of interlaced work
and zoomorphic and anthropomorphic designs similar to those upon the
Irish manuscripts. Finally, the opening is closed and the ring becomes
annular.
The finest examples of these brooches are preserved in the museum of the
Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, the National Museum of Antiquities of
Scotland in Edinburgh, and the British Museum. Among the earliest--which
are not, however, prior to the later Anglo-Saxon period, and make their
appearance about the ninth century--are those with a plain penannular
ring, formed of a solid cylindrical rod of silver, terminating with
bulbous knobs furnished with expansions, and often covered with a
peculiar prickly ornamentation like thistle-heads. Specimens of this
style of brooch have been found in Ireland, Scotland, and in the north
of England.
The simplest of the silver penannular brooches with discoidal
terminations in the museum at Edinburgh is one from Croy in
Inverness-shire. It has ends expanding into circular discs with amber
settings. The most elaborate, one of two known as the Cadboll brooches,
found at Rogart in Sutherlandshire, has four raised heads of birds,
two upon the circumference of each disc, and two upon the ring. The
collection in the Royal Irish Academy contains several splendid brooches
of a similar type, notably the Kilmainham brooch from Kilmainham, Co.
Dublin, the surface of which is ornamented with compartments of thin
plates of gold tooled with interlaced patterns.
The terminations of the penannular ring soon become so expanded that
they fill up exactly half the ring. Upon these flattened plaques, which
have just space enough between them for the pin to pass, a serpent or
dragon form is a frequent ornament, as well as the intertwined triple
ornament, or _triquetra_, while the surface is set at intervals with
bosses of amber. The most remarkable examples of this type are the
University brooch in the collection of Trinity College, Dublin, and the
Clarendon brooch found in Co. Kilkenny, and now in the museum of the
Royal Irish Academy.
The main characteristic of the Celtic brooch is that it is penannular,
that is, its ring has an opening, if not real, at least apparent,
between its two ends. For even when the narrow opening left between the
enlarged ends is closed by a bar, or is finally closed altogether, the
flattened plaques are ornamentally treated as if they were still
disunited. Of this class of brooches with continuous rings there have
survived two world-famed examples, one from Ireland and the other from
Scotland. The first of these, known as the Tara brooch, was found in
1850 on the seashore near Bettystown, Co. Louth, and received the title
of "Tara" on account of its beauty, and after the celebrated hill of
that name. It is composed of white bronze thickly gilded. The ring and
expanded head of the pin are divided into a number of panels ornamented
with examples of nearly every technical process, being enriched with
enamel-work, niello, and inlaid stones; while the metal is hammered,
chased, and engraved, and filigreed with extraordinary delicacy. The
enamels, of the cloisonné kind, have been made separately and mounted
like gems. Attached to the brooch on one side is a finely plaited chain;
a similar chain upon the other side has been lost. The reverse of the
brooch is unadorned with settings, but decorated with a divergent spiral
ornament known as the Celtic trumpet pattern, executed with very great
perfection. The probable date of this extraordinary jewel is the tenth
century. It is now the chief treasure of the museum of the Royal Irish
Academy, for which it was bought in 1867 for the sum of £200.
[Illustration: _PLATE XIV_ THE TARA BROOCH
(NATIONAL MUSEUM, DUBLIN)]
The finest after the Tara brooch, and the most famous of Scottish
brooches, is known as the Hunterston brooch. It was found in 1826 on the
estate of Mr. Robert Hunter, of West Kilbride, Ayrshire, and is now in
the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. It is somewhat similar
to the Tara brooch, and of the same gilt metal, but rather less ornate,
and unprovided with enamels, glass pastes, or chain. Its main
ornamentation consists of varieties of interlaced work in fine gold
filigree, of singularly beautiful design and of remarkable execution.
The back is decorated with the trumpet pattern, and engraved with Runic
characters.
The presence of the trumpet pattern upon the backs of these two famous
brooches determines their date as prior to the eleventh century; for the
old Celtic pattern disappears from brooches and from most Irish and all
Scottish metal-work after the year 1000 A.D., and is succeeded by
varieties of interlaced work and zoomorphic designs.[26] The later
Celtic brooches differ besides in form, for the pin is longer in
proportion to the size of the ring, and its head is hinged upon a
constriction of the ring, which itself becomes partly filled up.
[26] Anderson (J.), _Scotland in early Christian times_,
2nd Series. 1881.
The Celtic brooch is distinct in itself, and does not merge into any
other form. It disappears entirely about the thirteenth century, and is
succeeded by a totally different type of brooch, which belongs to the
ornaments of the later Middle Ages.
THE JEWELLERY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
(TENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURIES)