What is the Hunterston brooch?
The brooch is a truly special object, sumptuously decorated with
animals executed in gold wire and granules, called filigree. In the
centre of the brooch is a cross flanking a golden ‘Glory’
representing the risen Christ.
This close-up of the brooch shows the
detailed filigree, the work of a highly accomplished craftsman.
Where was the brooch made?
It was probably made at a royal site such as Dunadd, Argyll. It
was the creation of an extremely skilled jeweller, someone familiar
with Anglo-Saxon, Irish and Irish-Scottish techniques of decorative
metalwork.
It is bigger and better than any other contemporary brooch and
long remained an object of desire. It is one of the iconic objects
of the Early Historic and Viking periods.
Who did the brooch belong to?
We have no way of knowing who owned the brooch, but it has
clearly been treasured for centuries. Some 200 years after it was
made, its then owner added an inscription in Viking Runes.
The back of the Hunterston brooch.
It could have been a gift given by a ruler to someone of great
importance, perhaps another ruler, to mark a special occasion. Like
us now, anyone who saw the brooch could not have failed to
understand that the wearer was a powerful and important person
indeed.
Where is the brooch now?
The Hunterston brooch currently takes pride of place in the
Early People gallery, in the Them and Us display, which looks at
power, wealth and warfare in early Scotland.