Lot 188
A FINE VICTORIAN SILVER GILT REPLICA OF THE TARA BROOCH
Auction: 12 August 2015 at 15:00 BST
Description
Waterhouse & Co, with integral Victorian registration diamond and marked Waterhouse & Co, Queen's Jewellers Dublin, of traditional form with fine detail and integral swing pin
Dimensions
Width: 7.5cm
Footnote
The original Tara brooch is currently housed in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, and was found in 1850 by a peasant woman, not on the Hill of Tara from which the piece takes its name, but on the beach in County Meath. She claimed to have come across the piece in a box there, and took it to a local jewellery dealer who, seeing the craftsmanship and value of the item, was quick to rename it after the seat of the high kings of Ireland, aligning it with a period of history which was at the time very popular, and more importantly, lucrative. It dates from about AD700, and is one of the most impressive examples of its kind, cast in silver with intricate gold filigree decoration and glass, amber and enamel detail, it is considered to represent the pinnacle of early medieval Irish metalworkers' achievement. Before it made its way into the Royal Irish Academy's collection in 1872, it was a central piece at The Great Exhibition in London in 1851, and the Paris Exposition Universelle. It was even sent to Windsor Castle for inspection by Queen Victoria before the Dublin exhibition in 1853.