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The Tara Brooch is an Irish
Celtic brooch The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large; penannular means formed as an incomplete ring. They are especial ...
, dated to the late 7th or early 8th century. It is of the pseudo-penannular type (with a fully closed head or hoop), and made from
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
, silver and gold. Its head consists of an intricately decorated circular ring, and overall, its front and reverse sides are equally decorated; each holds around 50 inserted cast panels packed with
filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, m ...
. The brooch was constructed from numerous individually made pieces; all of the borders and its terminals contain multiple panels holding multi-coloured studs, interlace patterns, filigree, and Celtic spirals. The brooch is widely considered the most complex and ornate of its kind and would have been commissioned as a fastener for the
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, which serves the same purpose as an overcoat and protects the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. People in many d ...
of a high-ranking cleric or as ceremonial insignia of high office for a
High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...
. The brooch was hidden on the east coast of Ireland some time during the 11th or 12th century, most likely to protect it from
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
or Norman invaders. It was rediscovered around 1850, but the exact find-spot and circumstances are unknown. Despite its title, it was not found at the
Hill of Tara The Hill of Tara ( or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. ...
but on or near the beach around Bettystown on the coast of
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
. The name by which it became known was chosen by its first commercial owner, the Dublin-based jeweler George Waterhouse, as a marketing ploy for selling copies during the height of the 19th century
Celtic Revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gae ...
. For this reason, many art historians describe it with inverted commas as the "Tara" brooch. Its decoration and ornamentation are so detailed and minute that parts can only be fully seen using magnification, leading to one 19th-century critic writing that it was "more like the work of
fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
than of human beings". Art historians see only the contemporary
Hunterston Brooch The Hunterston Brooch is a highly important Celtic brooch of "pseudo-penannular" type found near Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland, in either, according to one account, 1826 by two men from West Kilbride, who were digging drains at the foot o ...
() as an equal in craftsmanship and design. The archaeologist Niamh Whitfield called it "the most ornate and intricate piece of medieval jewellery ever found in Ireland", while the NMI describes it as representing "the pinnacle of early medieval Irish metalworkers’ achievement". It was acquired by the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
in 1868, and transferred to the
National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland () is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has three branches in Dublin, the arch ...
in 1890, where it remains on permanent display.


Function

The Tara brooch was likely made for a
High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...
or a dignitary or cleric, probably from the Kingdom of Brega, a branch of the
Uí Néill The Uí Néill (; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties that claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who is believed to have died around c. 405. They are generally divided ...
s, who ruled over much of today's
Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...
. The owner would have worn it on ceremonial occasions. Gilt and silver
zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from and . In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It can also be defined as art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal or art ...
brooches were status symbols in
Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...
Ireland and Britain. The format is derived from the earlier tradition of
torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some have hook and ring closures and a few hav ...
s and
gorget A gorget ( ; ) was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the English medieval clothing, medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon (headgear), chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather Collar (c ...
s (both types of neck-rings). By the 7th century, Irish kings had adopted the late
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
use of brooches to fulfill this purpose. The tradition continued into the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
empire;
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
s in the
Basilica of San Vitale The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Byzantine art and architecture, and its mosaics in particular are some of the most-studied works in Byzan ...
show the emperor
Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
(b. 482) wearing a brooch on an imperial purple cloak. Fully-sealed brooches were fashioned by rotating the pin within the gap by 90 degrees. Penannular brooches were too small to have been pushed through cloth. Instead, they were likely fixed in place by pushing the pin-shaft through the cloth, and fastened horizontally behind the head with stitches running through loops on the borders, and further secured by wrapping the chain around the pin. Depictions in
illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...
s indicate that high-quality brooches were often placed over purple dye
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, which serves the same purpose as an overcoat and protects the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. People in many d ...
s (''brait'' in Gaelic) just below the right shoulder. Positioning them below the right shoulder was another tradition that originated with the Romans, whose military placed it there so as to keep their cloak on the left and not impede access to their sword.


Dating

Penannular brooches appear in Ireland from the 5th century, presumably made by craftsmen working in
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...
traditions. Surviving Irish brooches became more elaborate than Anglo-Saxon examples from the mid-9th century. The extant Irish examples have silver rather than bronze bases, as well as more decorated pinheads, a wider variety of inlay material such as red gold,
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, enamel,
millefiori Millefiori () is a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. The term millefiori is a combination of the Italian words "mille" (thousand) and "fiori" (flowers). Apsley Pellatt in his book ''Curiosities of ...
and glass, and larger terminals which had become the focal point for decoration. Goldsmithing was a prominent craft in prehistoric Irish society. Through 7th century trade and missionary contacts with
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
, Frankish and Lombardic cultures, Irish craftsmen developed sophistication in goldwork and adopted the style sometimes referred to by historians as "Hiberno-Saxon" or "late Celtic". The Tara brooch is usually dated to the late 7th or early 8th century, based on technical analysis and stylistic comparisons, in particular to its similarities to the
Hunterston Brooch The Hunterston Brooch is a highly important Celtic brooch of "pseudo-penannular" type found near Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland, in either, according to one account, 1826 by two men from West Kilbride, who were digging drains at the foot o ...
, produced in either Ireland or western Scotland at the turn of the 8th century, and the
Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the Bri ...
produced in
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
in the early 8th century. In the late 19th century, the antiquarian
Margaret Stokes Margaret McNair Stokes (March 1832 – 20 September 1900) was an Irish Illustrator, antiquarian and writer. Life Born in Dublin, she was the daughter of Dr William Stokes and his wife Mary (née Black). One brother, Whitley Stokes, was a lea ...
was the first to observe that the use of trumpet spirals places it at least at the end of the so-called "Golden Age" of
Insular art Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman era of Great Britain and Ireland. The term derives from ''insula'', the Latin language, Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland ...
, given that the design had fallen out of use by 1050. Common elements between the Hunterston and Tara brooches and the Lindisfarne Gospels include curvilinear patterns and renderings of animal and birds in interlace. Archeologists think the workshops behind these objects were in contact and sharing techniques and design ideas. The Irish style drew influence from
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
formats and the chip carving and inlay methods of Germanic
polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...
jewelry. In addition, by the 7th century, Irish missionaries had become exposed to Central European and Mediterranean cultures. Whitfield has noted that Ireland was then relatively outward-looking and cosmopolitan – compared to the later Middle Ages – and that "it is not surprising that it should have produced jewels which reflected European fashions".


Description

The Tara Brooch is widely considered the most elaborately constructed and decorated surviving Insular object, with metalwork that exceeds in richness of ornamentation both the 8th-century Ardagh and early 9th-century Derrynaflan chalices It is older than both, and one of the earliest Insular metalwork pieces to depict animals in the zoomorphic style that became widespread in Irish art between the 8th and late 12th centuries. It is larger than most other
Celtic brooch The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large; penannular means formed as an incomplete ring. They are especial ...
es: the hoop is unusually large, with a maximum diameter of while the pin is relatively long at . The brooch is classified as pseudo-penannular, in that its terminals are closed and do not contain a gap through which a fastening pin could have passed. It is bilaterally symmetrical with a basic structure of a circular hook, semi-circular and linked terminals, a long pin and a string likely used for additional support to keep it in place against the wearer's cloth. Although its core is made of silver, its surface is so highly gilded that the silver is barely visible. It is composed of many individually formed pieces, with most of its filigree decorations inserted into small trays. Eighteen of these inserts survive, out of a total of twenty-eight trays. The complex geometry of its many designs and patterns include
concentric In geometry, two or more objects are said to be ''concentric'' when they share the same center. Any pair of (possibly unalike) objects with well-defined centers can be concentric, including circles, spheres, regular polygons, regular polyh ...
and ancillary circles, rectangular inserts, and an outline likely planned with sketches made with a compass on parchment. This is all the more likely, given the high number of detailed and complex patterns condensed into very small spaces.


Head

The head (or "hoop" or "ring") is made from cast and gilt silver and is decorated on both sides using techniques and patterns influenced by the
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
La Tène style. It consists of two large concentric circles, around 28 decorative panels, and a series of rounded studs lining both arms. The head is open on its top half, while the lower half is made of two fused terminals, and is thus solid and closed (i.e. pseudo-penannular), although its design does suggest an opening. The front of the head is lined with twenty-eight sunken panels soldered onto gold sheets. They are held in place by the then new technique of "jewellers' stitches" (also known as "bead settings" or "milli-graining"), that is intricate and complex filigree patterns formed by minute bands of silver wire. Eighteen panels retain their gilt
filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, m ...
; the others are either corroded or have been broken off since the brooch was rediscovered in 1850. Other decorative elements include cast depictions of animals (mostly thin-bodied fish) and abstract motifs, separated by glass studs, enamel, and amber. The
frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
s on the head contain chip-carved roundels (circular discs). Other La Tène elements include the patterns around the center of the head and terminals, which are silver and a dark red at the terminals but lined with gold at the head. The reverse is equally decorated, which is unusual given that it would have been hidden against the wearer's garment. Its decorations include rows of chip-carved interlace animals and birds, terminating in trumpet spirals.


Terminals

The three large and thin panels on the front-side of the terminals are intended to represent the gap in open brooches. They are richly ornamented with filigree and a row of three studs. The reverse is coloured in gold, black and red and contains further La Tène designs including a frieze of four roundels. The hoop and terminals are joined by silver grilled glass studs in red and blue that adopt contemporary Germanic
garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...
cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technology, ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inla ...
techniques, and in part resemble those on the 8th-century Moylough Belt-Shrine and Ardagh Chalice (8 and 9th-centuries). The combination of red and blue glass is unusual for the period. The reverse contains two
trapezoid In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...
s in the La Tène style, set against a silver and
niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is push ...
background. On each side, the bridge between the head and terminals contains a single large dome shaped stud. The two terminals and their bridge resemble the heads of two beasts biting at either other.


Pin and chain

The pin is attached to the upper end of the head by a long
oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...
and gilded panel shaped like a serpent with glass eyes. It is hinged to two ancillary panels with paired animal heads (which may be wolves or dragons) at the ends and two human faces formed from purple glass. The plaited (interlaced) silver chain is attached to the hook by a swivel. Most likely, it was originally wrapped around pieces of the garment to hold the brooch more securely. Other theories suggest it was used as a safety chain to prevent it from being dropped, or that the brooch was once part of a pair linked together by the chain.


Condition

When discovered, the brooch was almost fully intact but has sustained substantial losses since. Ten of the front inserts and three studs are now missing, while two more have lost their filigree. Comparison with mid-19th century photographs show that when found, the brooch was missing only a single panel. The earliest surviving reproductions are two 1852 wood engravings which show it, according to Whitfield, "in near perfect condition" with the majority of the now missing filigree, studs, and inserted interlace designs intact.


Discovery

Although named after the
Hill of Tara The Hill of Tara ( or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. ...
(seat and
necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...
of the High Kings of Ireland), the brooch bears no connection to Tara. The brooch was found in c. 1850 on the beach at Bettystown, near Laytown, in County Meath, not far from
Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
and about 25 kilometers from Tara. The finder, the son of a local peasant woman, is said to have found it in a container buried in the sand, though it is likely that it was found inland, by a river, and she said it was found at the beach to avoid a legal claim by the landowner. The title was given by an early owner, the Dublin jeweller George Waterhouse, for marketing reasons, to make his reproductions more culturally resonant.McEvansoney, Philip. (2012) "The purchase of the ‘Tara’ brooch in 1868: Collecting Irish antiquities for Ireland." ''Journal of the History of Collections.'' V. 24 (March): Pages 77–88. At the time, Waterhouse's main source of income was selling replicas of recently found
Celtic Revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gae ...
jewellery, and according to Whitfield was "in the habit of attaching romantic and high-sounding names to brooches of which they sold replicas". The circumstances of its finding meant that no contemporary archeological survey was made of the find-spot. However, late 20th century excavations of the area by the beach found a large burial site in use from the pre-historic to the Early medieval period. This has led to speculation that the brooch was buried as part of a hoard, but no other objects have been found. Equally, the date and reasons for its burial are unknown; most likely it was placed in the earth to hide it from
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
or Norman invaders, or following a defeat at battle. A 12th-century
codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
, the Book of Leinster, contains a section titled "The siege of
Howth Howth ( ; ; ) is a peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes the ...
" which mentions a precious brooch buried after a defeat, leading some art historians to speculate that a similar fate befell the Tara Brooch.


19th-century reception

Celtic Revival jewellery become fashionable in the 1840s. Utilising this trend, Waterhouse later placed the Tara Brooch as the centerpiece of his replica Celtic brooches in his Dublin shop, and exhibited it at the
Great Exhibition of 1851 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...
in London, the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853 in Dublin, and Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris. His Tara brooch replicas were smaller by about a third than the original and far simpler in design. Waterhouse chose the brooch's name, deliberately but falsely linking it to the site associated with the High Kings of Ireland, "fully aware that this would feed the Irish middle-class fantasy of being descended from them". He produced several replicas, which were generally smaller and less detailed than the original. The Dublin exhibition was visited by
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, who had an interest in the Hill of Tara, and who liked these Celtic brooches and purchased a number of facsimiles of the brooch, although she did not know that it had actually been found in Bettystown.
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...
had already bought two similar pieces for her when the two of them visited Dublin in 1849.


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Whitfield, Niamh. "Motifs and techniques in Early Medieval Celtic filigree". In: Moss, Rachel (ed). ''Making and Meaning in Insular Art''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007. * * * * * * *


External links


Tara Brooch page on the NMI websiteThe Discovery of the Tara Brooch by Niamh Whitfield
2019 podcast {{Insular art Celtic brooches Collection of the National Museum of Ireland History of County Meath Silver-gilt objects