Design and Techniques in Early Medieval Celtic Metalwork

A brooch could carry far more than a cloak. In early medieval Ireland and Scotland, intricate gold filigree, interlaced animals and carefully chosen materials helped turn jewellery into displays of skill and standing. Niamh Whitfield has spent years asking how such objects were made, where their designs came from and what their owners might have wanted them to say.

This substantial collection brings together her studies of metalworking, ornament and the objects themselves. The Tara and Hunterston brooches recur, from their filigree and construction to questions about how brooches were worn; other essays investigate the Ardagh Chalice, gold sources, Viking-age finds in Dublin and descriptions of finery in early Irish literature. Whitfield also traces the connections between Insular, Anglo-Saxon and continental design, recovering the craft decisions behind objects too easily admired only for their appearance.