Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


    • Round Box Brooch, 700–900
    Viking; Made in Gotland, Sweden
    Copper alloy

    D. 1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm)
    Pfeiffer Fund, 1992 (1992.59.1)

    A menagerie of tiny animals inhabits the interlace patterns on this round brooch. The four oval compartments on the top show beasts with round eyes, open jaws, claw feet, and intricately entwined bodies. Known as a box brooch because it was used as a container for small objects, it would have been worn by a Viking woman on the island of Gotland to secure her shawl at the collar.

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • "Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1991–1992," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 50, no. 2 (Fall, 1992).
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  • Round Box Brooch, 700–900
    Viking; Made in Gotland, Sweden
    Copper alloy

    D. 1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm)
    Pfeiffer Fund, 1992 (1992.59.1)