Brooches (fronts)

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This pair of brass oval brooches was found in 1788 on Islay in the Inner Hebrides. They are almost certainly from the grave of a Scandinavian woman, and date from between 875 to 925

Like many oval brooches of the period, these examples were made from two shells. The outermost, pictured here, was an openwork pattern with animal decoration and projecting knobs, some of which are missing here.

Oval brooches are a very distinctive form of jewellery worn by Viking women in pairs to fasten the straps of a pinafore. They were mass produced in Scandinavia and widely copied.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-099-677-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: Kiloran Bay Viking Burial (multimedia essay)
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 215
• Date: 10th century
  Between 875 and 925
  
• Material: Oval; bowl-shaped
  Brooch
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Brooch
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Argyll, Islay
  
• Event:
• Description: Oval brooch with textile imprint on reverse, from Islay, 10th century
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, J. Viking artefacts. A select catalogue. London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1980, no. 118. 
  • Grieg, Sigurd. Viking Antiquities in Scotland (=Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, Part II, ed. by Haakon Shetelig). Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co., 1940, pp 41-2. 
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