Tiny tell tale details on Insular metalwork - Dr Niamh Whitfield

Tiny tell-tale details on Insular metalwork

Decoration on Insular metalwork dating from the late seventh to the ninth century AD is distinguished by mastery of complex ornament on such a minute scale that it is best examined under magnification—‘more like the work of fairies than of human beings’, according to one nineteenth-century commentator. In this talk attention will be drawn to three very different but equally telling details. The first is the placing of tiny granules at the back of the mouths of small filigree animals on the Hunterston brooch. The second is the treatment of Ultimate La Tène ornament on the Steeple Bumpstead boss. The third is the tiny horn on filigree animals on the bowl-girdle of the Ardagh chalice, which suggests that the creatures represent unicorns. These small features tell significant stories about the origin of the ‘Hiberno-Saxon’ style, the skill of its designers and makers, and the iconography lying behind some of the ornament.

Dr Niamh Whitfield, studies early medieval metalwork. She is the author of Design and technique in early medieval Celtic metalwork (Pindar Press, 2024), and is currently editing and partly writing a study of the Ardagh chalice for the National Museum of Ireland.

Traces: The Archaeology of Small Things
NATIONAL MONUMENTS SERVICE7th ANNUAL ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE
NATIONAL MONUMENTS SERVICE
7th ANNUAL ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE


12 October 2024
The Printworks, Dublin Castle, Dublin.