On Early Church Windows

Abstract

Anglo-Saxon garnet cloisonné composite disc brooches form a small but important group of jewellery, representing an extremely high level of design and craftsmanship. While a good deal has been written about them in various contexts, this paper sets out to analyse the brooches in terms of their construction. All eighteen known examples (with the exception of one now lost) were examined in detail, from a practical manufacturing point of view, and a number of their components classified: cloisonné work, rims, back-plates, brooch fittings and general construction. On the basis of this examination, clear distinctions could be drawn between two groups — those with gold cloisonné work and those with copper-alloy. Within these groups, it is further possible to draw parallels between three sets of brooches (two pairs with gold cloisonné and a trio with copper alloy) which appear likely to have had a common manufacturing source.

Very little is known of the Anglo-Saxon jewellers, but there can have been only a small number of them. Because of this, and the high level of skill needed to make both types of brooch, it would not be safe to assume that the copper alloy cloisonné examples necessarily represent a degenerate form of the gold. The Sarre brooch illustrates levels of accomplishment comparable with that seen on many gold cloisonné brooches.