Oval Brooch, 900–1000
Viking; Made in Scandinavia
Copper alloy with gilding
Technical Glossary
Viking; Made in Scandinavia
Copper alloy with gilding
4 1/2 x 2 15/16 in. (11.4 x 7.4 cm)
Purchase, Fletcher Fund, and Bequest of Gwynne M. Andrews, by exchange, 1982 (1982.323.1)
This large, domed and intricately ornamented oval brooch was once one of a pair used to secure the shoulder straps of a Viking woman's tunic. Occasionally, the eye of an animal or the beek of a bird emerges from the design, but the piece displays an abstract pattern, rich in light-and-dark effects and enlivened by gilding.
