{{Short description|Celtic brooch found in North Ayrshire, Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:NMSHunterstonBrooch1 (cropped).jpg|alt=Hunterston Brooch front view|thumb|The brooch is cast in silver, mounted with gold, silver and amber decoration. c. 700 AD]] The '''Hunterston Brooch''' is a highly important [[Celtic brooch]] of "pseudo-penannular" type found near [[Hunterston]], [[North Ayrshire]], Scotland, in either, according to one account, 1826 by two men from [[West Kilbride]], who were digging drains at the foot of Goldenberry Hill,<ref name="lamb92">Lamb, page 92</ref> or in 1830.<ref>Youngs, 92</ref>

The Hunterston Brooch is clearly an object of very high status, indicating its owner's power and prestige. With the [[Tara Brooch]] in the [[National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology|National Museum of Ireland]] and the [[Londesborough Brooch]] in the [[British Museum]], it is considered one of the finest of over 50 highly elaborate surviving Irish Celtic brooches,<ref>Youngs, 90</ref> and "arguably the earliest of the ornate penannular brooches from Britain and Ireland".<ref>Laings, 148</ref>

It is in the collection of the [[National Museum of Scotland]] in [[Edinburgh]].

==Description== [[File:NMSHunterstonBrooch2 (cropped).jpg|upright=1.0|thumb|Detail of pin-head]] Made within a few decades of 700 AD,<ref name="ReferenceA">NMS</ref> the Hunterston Brooch is cast in silver and [[gilding|gilt]]. It is set with pieces of [[amber]] (most now missing) and decorated with [[interlace (art)|interlaced]] animal bodies in gold [[filigree]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The diameter of the ring is 12.2&nbsp;cm, and in its centre there is a cross and a golden [[Halo (religious iconography)|glory]] representing the risen [[Christ]], surrounded by tiny bird heads. The pin, which is broken, can travel freely around the ring as far as the terminals—necessary for fastening; it is now 13.1&nbsp;cm long, but was probably originally 15&nbsp;cm or more.<ref name="Youngs, 91">Youngs, 91</ref>

[[File:NMSHunterstonBrooch4 (cropped).jpg|upright=1.0|thumb|left|Rear view]] The brooch has a complex construction typical of the most elaborate Irish brooches. Panels of filigree work were created separately on gold trays, which were then fitted into the main silver-gilt body. On the reverse, four panels of silver-gilt were also inserted; as in other examples like the [[Tara Brooch]] the decoration on the reverse uses older curvilinear "Celtic" motifs looking back to [[La Tène style]] Insular Celtic decoration, though on the Hunterston Brooch such motifs also appear on the front.<ref name="Youngs, 91"/>

The back of the brooch has a scratched inscription in [[rune]]s in the [[Old Norse]] language, probably 10th century, "Melbrigda owns this brooch"; Maél Brigda, "devotee of [[Saint Bridgit|Bridgit]]" is a common Gaelic female name, though seen as male by other sources.<ref>Whitfield, Tara Brooch, 215; Youngs, 91-92, "an Irishman Melbrigda"</ref><ref name="m414">Moss (2014), p. 414</ref> Much later ownership inscriptions are not uncommon on elaborate Celtic brooches, often from [[Norse-Gael]] contexts.

==Possible origin== Such brooches were worn by rulers or gifted by the ruler to people of importance. The Hunterston brooch evidences power and wealth shortly before the [[Viking Age]] impacted Britain.

The Hunterston brooch may have been made at a royal site, such as [[Dunadd]] in [[Argyll]],<ref name="ReferenceA"/> though is more likely to have been made in Ireland, especially as its [[pseudo-penannular]] form is typical of Irish brooches, whereas the truly [[Penannular brooch|penannular]] form remained usual in Pictish brooches.<ref name="Youngs, 91"/> On the other hand, its style is closely comparable to a terminal fragment of a [[penannular brooch]] found in [[Dunbeath]] in 1860 which probably was made in Scotland; craftsmen may have travelled across the area using the locally popular forms.<ref>Youngs, 57</ref> Lloyd and Jennifer Laing feel it was probably made in [[Dalriada]], and the Museum of Scotland say "The style of the brooch has Irish parallels, while the filigree resembles metalwork from England. The brooch was probably made in western Scotland where the two traditions were joined, or perhaps in Ireland by a craftsman trained in foreign techniques."<ref>Laings, 148; [http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-036-198-C&scache=1cnl3113a1&searchdb=scran NMS database]</ref>

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== * Henderson, George; Henderson, Isabel. ''The Art of the Picts: Sculpture and Metalwork in Early Medieval Scotland''. Thames and Hudson, 2004. {{isbn|978-0-5002-8963-1}} * Lamb, Rev. John, BD. ''Annals of an Ayrshire Parish - West Kilbride''. Glasgow: John J. Rae, 1896 *"Laings", Lloyd Laing and Jennifer Laing. ''Art of the Celts: From 700 BC to the Celtic Revival'', 1992, Thames & Hudson (World of Art), {{ISBN|0-500-20256-7}} * [[Rachel Moss (art historian)|Moss, Rachel]]. ''[[Medieval c. 400—c. 1600]]''. "[[Art and Architecture of Ireland]]" series. London: Yale University Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-3001-7919-4}} *"NMS"; [https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/hunterston-brooch/ Hunterston Brooch] [[National Museums of Scotland]] *Whitfield, Niamh. ''The "Tara" Brooch:an Irish emblem of status in its European context'', in Hourihane, Colum (ed), ''From Ireland coming: Irish art from the early Christian to the late Gothic period and its European context''. Princeton University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-691-08825-X}}, 9780691088259 * Whitfield, Niamh. "[https://www.academia.edu/254858/The_Filigree_of_the_Hunterston_and_Tara_brooches The Filigree of the Hunterston and 'Tara' Brooches]". In: ''The Age of Migrating Ideas. Early Medieval Art in Northern Britain and Ireland''. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Insular Art, 1993 *Youngs, Susan (ed). ''"The Work of Angels", Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork, 6th-9th centuries AD''. London: British Museum Press, 1989. {{ISBN|0-7141-0554-6}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/hunterston-brooch/ Hunterston Brooch], National Museums of Scotland *[http://virtual.hunterston.eu/brooch/brooch.htm Detailed photos of and information on the Brooch]

{{Celtic brooches}} {{Insular art}}

[[Category:8th century in Scotland]] [[Category:8th-century artifacts]] [[Category:1826 in Scotland]] [[Category:1826 archaeological discoveries]] [[Category:Celtic brooches]] [[Category:Collection of National Museums Scotland]] [[Category:History of Argyll and Bute]] [[Category:History of North Ayrshire]] [[Category:Runic inscriptions]] [[Category:Archaeological discoveries in the United Kingdom]]