Rogart Brooch
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox artefact
|name = Rogart Brooch
|image =350px
|image_caption =
|material = Silver plated with gold, glass, amber
|size = {{plainlist|
- head: {{convert|12|cm|abbr=on}} diameter
- pin: {{convert|19.3|cm|abbr=on}} long
}}
|writing =
|created =
|period = 8th century
|place = Rogart, Sutherland, Scotland
|location = National Museum of Scotland
}}
The Rogart Brooch is a large penannular brooch of Pictish origin, dated to the eighth century.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=215}} Characteristic of contemporary Pictish brooches, it contains three-dimensional bird-head inserts formed with glass.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=108}}
It was discovered at Rogart, Sutherland, in Scotland in 1868 as part of a hoard of 8th-century brooches.{{sfn|Anderson|1881|p=6}}{{sfn|Finlay|1999|p=15}} The hoard was unearthed during rock-blasting for the construction of the Sutherland Railway. A workman found the collection of brooches in earth uncovered by removing a large boulder. He immediately left his work and disappeared southwards, on the way passing two brooches to Mr Macleod, a shopkeeper in Cadboll, who displayed them to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1870. The number of brooches discovered in the hoard was not recorded at the time.{{sfn|Anderson|1881|p=6}}
Both brooches are in the archaeology collection of the National Museum of Scotland.{{Cite web |title=Brooch |url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/brooch/132599 |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=National Museums Scotland |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Brooch |url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/brooch/132600 |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=National Museums Scotland |language=en}} The Rogart Brooch, the larger of the two, is on permanent display in the museum in Edinburgh. A third brooch from the find went to the collection of the then Duke of Sutherland and later to Dunrobin Castle.{{sfn|Anderson|1881|p=6}}
Descriptions
=Rogart Brooch=
File:Rogart Brooch Bird head ornament.jpg
The brooch is made from a flat band of silver decorated with carved and alternating interlace patterns, some of which are in gold,{{sfn|Anderson|1881|p=7}} and a head that is a quarter inch thick. The width of the head is {{Convert|12|cm|abbr=off}}, and the pin is {{Convert|19.3|cm|abbr=on}} long. The hoop is divided into four quadrants, each of which is decorated with interlace.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=116}} The bird heads are rendered in full-relief, all inward-facing, fixed with rivets, lined with gold, with narrow eyes made from green glass.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=116}} They are placed on both the upper band of the ring and the quadrants of each of the two cloverleaf-shaped terminals.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=116}}Antiquaries of Scotland (1882), p. 493 The terminals are about {{Convert|1|in|cm|abbr=on|order=flip}} apart, and separated from both the ring-head and each other by raised borders lined with gold.{{sfn|Anderson|1881|p=8}}
The brooch is in relatively good condition; some of the settings for decorative studs in the head and terminals, made from red glass and amber, are missing. Its reverse is rather flat and unembellished.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=116}}
=Smaller brooch=
The smaller brooch is made from silver and is in poor condition, having lost all its glass studs. The width of the head is {{Convert|7.7|cm|abbr=on}}, and the pin is {{Convert|13.3|cm|abbr=on}} long.{{sfn|Young|1989|p=116}}{{Cite web |date=2017-12-22 |title=The Rogart Brooch |url=https://rogartheritage.co.uk/antiquities/the-rogart-brooch/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Rogart Heritage |language=en-US}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r6ymxwEACAAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Scotland in Early Christian Times (second Series) |publisher=D. Douglas |year=1881 |isbn=9781108082662}}
- {{Cite book |last=Finlay |first=Ian |title=Scottish Gold and Silver Work" |publisher=Firebird Press |year=1999 |isbn=9781565545595}}
- {{Cite book |title=The Work of Angels: Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork, 6th—9th centuries AD |publisher=British Museum Press |year=1989 |isbn=9780292790582 |editor-last=Young |editor-first=Susan |location=London}}
- "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland". Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1882
{{Celtic brooches}}
{{Insular art}}