A VICTORIAN CASED SILVER GILT REPLICA OF THE HUNTERSTON BROOCH
£460
Auction: 12 August 2015 at 15:00 BST
Description
unmarked, of traditional form with finely worked Celtic interlace and bosses, with fixed integral pin and simple hinged pin to reverse, in original fitted case
Dimensions
Width: 7cm
Footnote
The original Hunterston brooch was found during the 1830's in Hunterston, Ayrshire, reportedly by two men from West Kilbride who were digging drains at the foot of Goldenberry Hill, and is currently in the National Museum of Scotland. It is thought to date from AD700 and would have been made at a Royal site in Ireland or Western Scotland. Cast in silver with gold and amber detail (now lost), it was undoubtedly made by an exceptionally skilled craftsman for an important and wealthy patron. It was a piece which was obviously prized for decades after it was made, and remained a status symbol for its later owners, as the reverse has a scratched rune inscription 'Melbrigda owns this brooch' which probably dates from the 10th century.