Trewhiddle style

Last updated
Strickland Brooch, British Museum Strickland brooch Trewhiddle Style.jpg
Strickland Brooch, British Museum

Trewhiddle style is a distinctive style in Anglo-Saxon art that takes its name from the Trewhiddle Hoard, discovered in Trewhiddle, Cornwall in 1770. Trewhiddle ornamentation includes the use of silver, niello inlay, and zoomorphic, plant and geometric designs, often interlaced and intricately carved into small panels. It was primarily used to decorate metalwork. During the late Anglo-Saxon era, silver was the precious metal most commonly used to create Trewhiddle style jewellery and to decorate weapons. Famous examples include the Pentney Hoard, the Abingdon sword, the Fuller brooch, and the Strickland brooch.

Contents

History

Items of the Trewhiddle Hoard, British Museum Trewhiddle Hoard Brit Museum1.jpg
Items of the Trewhiddle Hoard, British Museum

Trewhiddle style is named after the Trewhiddle Hoard found in 1774 near Trewhiddle, Cornwall. The treasure contained a number of objects, including Anglo-Saxon coins, a silver chalice, and other gold and silver pieces. The artefacts can be dated to the ninth century. [1] The animal ornamentation of some of the Trewhiddle Hoard items became a focus of study by Anglo-Saxon art historians and archaeologists in the early twentieth century. Sir Thomas Kendrick was the first historian to illustrate the uninterrupted use of Anglo-Saxon animal ornament, from the last days of Roman Britain to the early Anglo-Saxon period. Danish archaeologist, Johannes Brøndsted, acknowledged the historical importance of the lively decorative elements of the hoard by naming the ninth century style, the "Trewhiddle style". [2]

Trewhiddle style is most likely the outcome of evolving Anglo-Saxon art forms. The Animal style decoration and complex patterns that were found in early England, continued to develop over time. According to David M. Wilson, "If we look at the animal ornament on the metalwork of any period between 450 and 950, we can see the same traditions at work. The animal on the Faversham brooch, the animal on the Sutton Hoo clasps, and the animal on the horse trappings of Källby are in a sequence that leads up to Trewhiddle and beyond." [3]

Sutton Hoo shoulder clasp, by c. 620, in an older style. Sutton.Hoo.ShoulderClasp2.RobRoy.jpg
Sutton Hoo shoulder clasp, by c. 620, in an older style.

Art historians have recognized important similarities between Trewhiddle art and Irish art, yet no historian has proposed that Trewhiddle art was influenced by Irish art. It is most likely that the animal art of the Trewhiddle objects originated in England and to a small degree was influenced by Continental art from the Mediterranean, Francia, or Celtic world. [4]

Earlier scholars have theorized that the Trewhiddle style was confined to the ninth century. The style has been difficult to date given the lack of independent dating evidence associated with Trewhiddle finds. It has been suggested, as more Trewhiddle artefacts continue to be found, that the birth of the Trehiddle style may have occurred in the eighth century. It has also been suggested, given more recent excavation of Trewhiddle style artefacts, including those found at Anglo-Saxon sites in Yorkshire in the 1980s and the late 1990s, that the Trewhiddle style continued to be produced in Northern England into the tenth century. Until more information becomes available to Trewhiddle scholars, the style continues to be dated to the ninth century. [5]

"[Trewhiddle] style has long been recognised as a defining characteristic of much of the ornamental metalwork dated to the 9th century .... During the course of the 9th century, and arguably into the 10th, the Trewhiddle style enjoyed unrivalled prominence in the decoration of high-class metalwork and on the evidence of frequent attempts to copy its motifs in cheaper metals, it was a fashion to which most of the populace aspired."

— Gabor Thomas, 2000. [6]

Style features

The Trewhiddle style is recognized for its intricately carved decoration, including animal, plant, interlace and geometric patterns; niello inlays, densely decorated surfaces, and dome-headed rivets. A defining feature is the dividing of the main area of decoration into small panels, typically separated by beaded borders. Panels usually contain a single motif, typically a crouching, backward-looking or biting animal. [7] Speckling of individual motifs was a technique frequently used to create surface texture or movement. [8]

The animal forms are many, including variations of mythical birds, snakes and beasts, usually depicted in profile. Plant motifs vary from intricately carved individual leaves to complete plants, often combined with animal forms and interlace. [6] Interlace is more commonly seen combined with zoomorphic and plant motifs, rather than on its own. When used singly, the interlace pattern is typically simple and closed. When used with plant or animal forms, the decoration is generally a more complex design. [8]

Metalwork

Trewhiddle style was primarily used to decorate metalwork. During the late Anglo-Saxon era, silver was the precious metal most commonly used to create Trewhiddle style jewellery and to decorate weapons. Viking trade and expansion during the ninth and tenth centuries brought new supplies of silver from the Near East to England and Scandinavia. The rapid change from the use of gold to silver in metalwork manufacturing, was due to abundant new supplies of silver that were made available to craftsmen during this time period. Subsequently, gold became the preferred metal to manufacture finger-rings or for gilding and inlay. [9]

Weapons

Bedale Hoard sword pommel Sword Pommel from the Bedale Hoard YORYM 2014 149 1-1.jpg
Bedale Hoard sword pommel

Trewhiddle was a commonly used decoration style for late Anglo-Saxon swords. The Abingdon sword, found near the village of Abingdon and now in the Ashmolean Museum, is decorated with silver mounts inlaid with niello. The River Witham sword, has a silver Trewhiddle style hilt is decorated with animal motifs, inlaid with niello. [10]

The sword pommel from the Bedale Hoard, is engraved with panels of gold foil inlay, and decorated with carved, intertwined animals and an intricate gold leaf pattern. The Anglo-Saxon weapon can be dated to the late ninth or early tenth century. [11] [12]

Three sword hilts, all from the Norwegian areas of Høven, Dolven and Gronneberg, were manufactured in the Trewhiddle style, all composed of niello inlays. The Dolven and Gronnenberg hilts are decorated in a similar manner to the River Witham sword. The Høven hilt is decorated with intertwined bird and animal forms, similar in style to the Fuller Brooch. [13]

Jewellery

Pentney Hoard brooch Brit Mus 17sept 005-crop.jpg
Pentney Hoard brooch

Anglo-Saxon jewellery during the ninth and early tenth century is renowned for its superb craftsmanship and animated, intricately carved designs. Typically cast in silver, open-work disc brooches decorated in the Trewhiddle style are the most recognized examples of late Anglo-Saxon jewellery style. [1]

The Pentney Hoard is probably the best known example of Trewhiddle style. The Anglo-Saxon treasure was discovered in a Pentney, Norfolk churchyard in 1978. The six silver open-work disc brooches, date to the early 9th century, and include two non-identical brooch pairs and two singleton brooches. [14]

AEthelswith's ring AEthelswith's ring.jpg
Æthelswith's ring

The Æthelwulf and Æthelswith finger-rings are important examples of Trewhiddle style gold metalwork. The rings belonged to Æthelwulf, King of Wessex and his daughter, Æthelswith (838-888 AD). Æthelwulf was the father of Alfred the Great. His rule spanned the years between 836 and 858 AD. Ethelswith reigned as Queen of Mercia from 853 to 874, when her husband King Burgred of Mercia died. [15] [16] The rings are significant in that they both contain unusual images of Christian iconography: the Lamb of God is featured on Æthelswith's ring and two peacocks drinking at the Fountain of Life are the central image on Æthelwulf's ring. [3] [17]

The Fuller Brooch, an intricately carved silver and niello inlay brooch, is dated to the late 9th century. The circular brooch illustrates the embodiment of the Five Senses. Belonging to the late Trewhiddle style, and featuring Trewhiddle style animals, birds, plants and humans, the Anglo-Saxon brooch is rare for its use of anthropomorphic motifs. It is considered one of the most famous examples of Anglo-Saxon art. [18]

The Strickland Brooch, a mid-ninth century silver and niello inlay disc brooch is similar in design to the Fuller Brooch. Both pieces of jewellery are made from sheet silver and inlaid with niello and gold. The Strickland Brooch's lively open-work design is elaborately carved with collared dog-like beasts and animal heads. [19]

Strap-ends

Late Anglo-Saxon era strap-ends, accessories used to fasten to the end of a strap or belt to keep it from unraveling, were often decorated in the Trewhiddle style. [20] The eight strap-ends of the Poppleton hoard, discovered near Upper Poppleton, Yorkshire, and dating from the late 9th to early 10th century, are excellent examples of Trewhiddle style metalwork. [21]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Buckle". British Museum Trewhiddle. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  2. ↑ Wilson 1961, pp. 99–102.
  3. 1 2 Hinton, David A. (1975). "Late Anglo-Saxon metalwork: an assessment". Anglo-Saxon England. 4: 171–180. doi:10.1017/S0263675100002775. JSTOR   44511008.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1961, p. 103.
  5. ↑ Thomas 2006, pp. 144, 156, 157, 163.
  6. 1 2 Thomas 2000, p. 71.
  7. ↑ Wilson 1961, pp. 104–105.
  8. 1 2 Thomas 2000, p. 72.
  9. ↑ Tait 1986, p. 112.
  10. ↑ Davidson 1998, p. 69.
  11. ↑ Foster, Mark. "Viking hoard revealed in all its beauty". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Beauty of hoard is revealed as rare Viking treasures displayed". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  13. ↑ Davidson 1998, p. 70.
  14. ↑ "Disc brooch". British Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  15. ↑ "Æthelswith Ring". British Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  16. ↑ "Æthelwulf Ring". British Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  17. ↑ Webster 2011, p. 484.
  18. ↑ "Fuller Brooch". British Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  19. ↑ "Strickland brooch". British Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  20. ↑ Thomas 2000, pp. 37–38.
  21. ↑ Thomas 2006, pp. 143, 163.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuller Brooch</span> 9th century Anglo-Saxon brooch

The Fuller Brooch is an Anglo-Saxon silver and niello brooch dated to the late 9th century, which is now in the British Museum, where it is normally on display in Room 41. The elegance of the engraved decoration depicting the Five Senses, highlighted by being filled with niello, makes it one of the most highly regarded pieces of Anglo-Saxon art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooch</span> Large ornament with a pin fastening

A brooch is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may be solely for ornament or serve a practical function as a clothes fastener. The earliest known brooches are from the Bronze Age. As fashions in brooches changed rather quickly, they are important chronological indicators. In archaeology, ancient European brooches are usually referred to by the Latin term fibula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara Brooch</span> Irish Celtic brooch

The Tara Brooch is an Irish Celtic brooch, dated to the late-7th or early-8th century, of the pseudo-penannular type. It is made from bronze, silver and gold, with a head formed from a circular ornate ring that is intricately decorated on both sides. Its upper half is hollow while the lower half is solid with fused terminals. The brooch was constructed from numerous individually made pieces, and its front and reverse sides are both decorated with around 50 inserted cast panels containing highly ornate filigree. The borders and terminals contain multiple panels holding multi-coloured studs, interlace patterns, filigree and Celtic spirals. It is widely considered the most complex and ornate of its kind, and would have been commissioned as a fastener for the cloak of a high ranking cleric or as ceremonial insignia of high office for a High King of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niello</span> Black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides

Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed into the engraved lines in the metal. It hardens and blackens when cool, and the niello on the flat surface is polished off to show the filled lines in black, contrasting with the polished metal around it. It may also be used with other metalworking techniques to cover larger areas, as seen in the sky in the diptych illustrated here. The metal where niello is to be placed is often roughened to provide a key. In many cases, especially in objects that have been buried underground, where the niello is now lost, the roughened surface indicates that it was once there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon art</span> English art of the Anglo-Saxon period

Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of England, whose sophisticated art was influential in much of northern Europe. The two periods of outstanding achievement were the 7th and 8th centuries, with the metalwork and jewellery from Sutton Hoo and a series of magnificent illuminated manuscripts, and the final period after about 950, when there was a revival of English culture after the end of the Viking invasions. By the time of the Conquest the move to the Romanesque style is nearly complete. The important artistic centres, in so far as these can be established, were concentrated in the extremities of England, in Northumbria, especially in the early period, and Wessex and Kent near the south coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Migration Period art</span> C. 300–900 Germanic and Hiberno-Saxon art

Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period. It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in Britain and Ireland. It covers many different styles of art including the polychrome style and the animal style. After Christianization, Migration Period art developed into various schools of Early Medieval art in Western Europe which are normally classified by region, such as Anglo-Saxon art and Carolingian art, before the continent-wide styles of Romanesque art and finally Gothic art developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quoit brooch</span>

The quoit brooch is a type of Anglo-Saxon brooch found from the 5th century and later during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain that has given its name to the Quoit Brooch Style to embrace all types of Anglo-Saxon metalwork in the decorative style typical of the finest brooches. The brooches take their modern name from the rings thrown in the game of quoits, and have the form of a broad ring, or circle with an empty centre, usually in bronze or silver, and often highly decorated. The forms are in a very low relief, so contrasting with other early Anglo-Saxon styles, with detail added by shallow engraving or punching within the main shapes. Dots or dashes are often used to represent fur on the animal forms, as well as lines emphasizing parts of the body. They are fixed with a single, straight hinged pin like those of other Anglo-Saxon ring or Celtic brooches and are further defined by the presence of a slot and pin-stops on the ring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insular art</span> Post-Roman British and Irish style of art

Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the post-Roman era of Great Britain and Ireland. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe. Art historians usually group Insular art as part of the Migration Period art movement as well as Early Medieval Western art, and it is the combination of these two traditions that gives the style its special character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon dress</span> Clothing of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon dress refers to the clothing and accessories worn by the Anglo-Saxons from the middle of the fifth century to the eleventh century. Archaeological finds in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries have provided the best source of information on Anglo-Saxon costume. It is possible to reconstruct Anglo-Saxon dress using archaeological evidence combined with Anglo-Saxon and European art, writing and literature of the period. Archaeological finds have both supported and contradicted the characteristic Anglo-Saxon costume as illustrated and described by these contemporary sources.

Æthelswith was the only known daughter of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. She married King Burgred of Mercia in 853. The couple had no known issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celtic brooch</span> Ring-and-pin clothing fastener

The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large; penannular means formed as an incomplete ring. They are especially associated with the beginning of the Early Medieval period in Ireland and Britain, although they are found in other times and places—for example, forming part of traditional female dress in areas in modern North Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abingdon Sword</span> Late Anglo-Saxon iron sword and hilt

The Abingdon Sword is a late Anglo-Saxon iron sword and hilt believed to be from the late 9th or early 10th century; only the first few inches of the blade remain attached to the hilt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art in Medieval Scotland</span>

In the early Middle Ages, there were distinct material cultures evident in the different federations and kingdoms within what is now Scotland. Pictish art was the only uniquely Scottish medieval style; it can be seen in the extensive survival of carved stones, particularly in the north and east of the country, which hold a variety of recurring images and patterns. It can also be seen in elaborate metal work that largely survives in buried hoards. Irish-Scots art from the kingdom of Dál Riata suggests that it was one of the places, as a crossroads between cultures, where the Insular style developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strickland Brooch</span> 9th century Anglo-Saxon brooch

The Strickland Brooch is an Anglo-Saxon silver and niello disc brooch dated to the mid 9th century, now in the British Museum. Although its exact provenance is unknown, it is regarded by scholars as a rare and important example of an Anglo-Saxon brooch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedale Hoard</span> Treasure hoard found in North Yorkshire, England

The Bedale Hoard is a hoard of forty-eight silver and gold items dating from the late 9th to early 10th centuries AD and includes necklaces, arm-bands, a sword pommel, hacksilver and ingots. It was discovered on 22 May 2012 in a field near Bedale, North Yorkshire, by metal detectorists, and reported via the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Following a successful public funding campaign, the hoard was acquired by the Yorkshire Museum for £50,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disc fibula</span> Brooch in the form of a flat disk, with a pin back

A disc fibula or disc brooch is a type of fibula, that is, a brooch, clip or pin used to fasten clothing that has a disc-shaped, often richly decorated plate or disc covering the fastener. The terms are mostly used in relation to the Middle Ages of Europe, especially the Early Middle Ages. They were the most common style of Anglo-Saxon brooches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon brooches</span> Anglo-Saxon decorative brooches

Anglo-Saxon brooches are a large group of decorative brooches found in England from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. In the early Anglo-Saxon era, there were two main categories of brooch: the long (bow) brooch and the circular (disc) brooch. The long brooch category includes cruciform, square-headed, radiate-headed, and small-long brooch brooches. The long brooches went out of fashion by the end of the sixth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentney Hoard</span>

The Pentney Hoard is an Anglo-Saxon jewellery hoard, discovered by a gravedigger in a Pentney, Norfolk churchyard in 1978. The treasure consists of six silver openwork disc brooches, five made entirely of silver and one composed of silver and copper alloy. The brooches are decorated in the 9th century Trewhiddle style. The hoard is now in the British Museum.

The Beeston Tor Hoard is an Anglo-Saxon jewellery and coin hoard discovered in 1924 at Beeston Tor in Staffordshire. The hoard consists of forty-nine coins, two silver brooches with Trewhiddle style decoration, three finger rings, and miscellaneous fragments. The coins date the burial of the hoard to approximately 875 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Yorkshire Hoard</span> Anglo-Saxon gold hoard

The West Yorkshire Hoard is a precious-metal hoard of six gold objects, including four gold finger-rings, and a lead spindle whorl, which was discovered near Leeds, West Yorkshire, in 2008–2009 by a metal detectorist. The find was of national and international significance, expanding the understanding of hoards and hoarding in the north of England in early medieval England, as well as expanding the corpus of known gold rings from the period.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.