Galleries

barbucomedie:

Ornate Brooch excavated at Hunterston in Scotland from the Mid 1st Century CE on display at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh

It is thought to have been made at a Royal Site such as Dunadd, the Hillfort metioned in the Annals of Ulster and supposedly the capital of the Kingdom of the Dál Riata. The skill of the jeweller can be seen in the familiarity of the use of Anglo-Saxon, Irish and Irish-Scottish techniques in decorating the metalwork of silver and gold with amber and other precious metals.

It was most likely a gift from one ruler to another either as a sign of friendship or of peace perhaps. It is a sign of not only material culture being used to symbolise status and rank but also the importance of trained and skilled manufacturers in society.

gemma-antiqua:

Left: Roman carnelian scarab intaglio of Prometheus creating man, dated to 100 BCE. 

Right: Greek carnelian scaraboid intaglio of a snake, dated to 450-425 BCE. 

gemma-antiqua:

Two Etruscan amulets, both dated to the 5th century BCE. The left is of an arrowhead capped with gold, and on the right is a shark tooth. Both are from the Thorvaldsens Museum. 

gemma-antiqua:

Scythian gold torque in the form of dragons, dated to the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. From the source:

Hundreds of tiny scales are individually soldered to the writhing forms of two confronted dragons on this magnificent gold torc. Thick curving horns sweep back over the long pointed ears of the rather wolf-like dragon heads. With muzzles drawn into ferocious snarls, these mighty beasts express the formidable strength of the Scythians, one of ancient Eurasia’s most powerful cultures.