Ireland experienced a period of resurgence in the production of goldwork during the late Bronze Age. Numerous objects noteworthy for their gold content, innovative forms, and sophisticated decoration still survive. Alongside such objects of personal adornment as gold collars, craftsmen produced rings, cylindrical boxes, and spools or bobbins, which were probably created for purely votive or ritual purposes.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Disk from a Reel
Date:ca. 800 BCE
Culture:Irish
Medium:Gold
Dimensions:Overall: 4 13/16 x 9/16 in. (12.2 x 1.5 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1947
Accession Number:47.100.14
Found in Enniscorthy, southeastern Ireland; Patrick O'ConnorFamily, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, Ireland; Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, Ireland (before 1944); [ Harold Naylar, Dublin]; [ Patrick O'Connor, Dublin and New York (sold 1946)]; [ Brummer Gallery, Paris and New York (1946–1947)]
Coffey, George. The Origins of Prehistoric Ornament in Ireland. Dublin: Dublin University Press, 1897. p. 18, 27ff, fig. 32.
Smith, Reginald A. "Sun-discs of the Bronze Age in the British Museum." Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 2nd series, 20 (1903). pp. 6–13, fig. 4–5.
Read, Charles. A Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age in the Department of British and Mediæval Antiquities. 1st ed. Oxford: British Museum, 1904. pp. 151–152.
Coffey, George. The Bronze Age in Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, & Co., Ltd, 1913. pp. 62–64, fig. 61.
Bing, J. "Der kultwagon von Trundholm und die nordischen felsenzeichnungen." IPEK 2 (1926). pp. 236–254.
Jacob-Friesen, K. H. "Die goldscheibe von Moordorf bei Aurich mit ihren Britischen und Nordischen parallelen." IPEK 7 (1931). pp. 25–44.
Armstrong, E. C. R., and National Museum of Ireland. Catalogue of Irish Gold Ornaments in the Collection of the Royal Irish Academy. 2nd ed. Dublin: Stationary Office, 1933. pp. 35–37.
Lechler, Jörg. Vom Hakenkreuz: die Geschichte eines Symbols. Leipzig: C. Kabitzsch, 1934. fig. 38.
Macalister, R. A. S. Ancient Ireland: A Study in the Lessons of Archaeology and History. London: Methuen & Company, ltd., 1935. pp. 72–73, fig. 15.
Lechler, Jörg. 5000 jahr Deutschland; eine Führung in 700 Bildern durch die deutsche Vorzeit und germanische Kultur. Leipzig: C. Kabitzsch, 1937.
Mahr, Adolf. Ancient Irish Handicraft. Limerick, Ireland: Limerick Leader, 1939. pp. 7–8.
Lechler, George. "Gold Ceremonial Vessels of the Bronze Age." The Art Quarterly 9 (1946).
Griffith, Beatrice Fox. Treasure Under Glass. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1963. p. 2, pl. II.
Eogan, George. "An Eighteenth-Century Find of Four Late Bronze Age Gold Discs Near Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland." Metropolitan Museum Journal 10 (1975). pp. 23–34, fig. 3.
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