Information and history of Merovingian Brooches. The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a region known as Francia in Latin, beginning in the middle of the 5th century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. Childeric I (c. 457 – 481), the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, founded the Merovingian dynasty, but it was his famous son Clovis I (481–511) who united all of Gaul under Merovingian rule. Reference: Wikipedia
A Merovingian gold and garnet cloisonné brooch
Circa late 6th to early 7th Century A.D.
Of disc form, composed of an outer border of stepped cells filled with shaped garnets, foils behind, with a central cross of rectangular cells, with a sheet gold back plate decorated between the cross arms with ornate scrolling filigree and granulation, the pin missing, 4.1cm diam
Sold for £13,750 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2016
Merovingian Silver-gilt lozenge-shaped brooch, diamond-shaped, with an empty central circular setting.
Merovingian Gilt Silver Bow Brooch. 5th century AD. A silver-gilt bow brooch with three inset garnet cabochons to the headplate, broad bow with median rib, transverse ribbing to the footplate and beast-head finial with inset garnet eyes, pin-lug and catch to the reverse. Cf. Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period. Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007, item V.3.3.1 for type.25 grams, 65mm (2 1/2″). Property of a gentleman; acquired in the late 1960s-early 1970s.
Sold for £260 at TimeLine Auctions Ltd. in 2018
Merovingian brooch, silver-gilt, decorated with niello and set with garnets over patterned foil.
Beautiful and costly bow brooches such as this, were worn in pairs by women who could afford them. The fashion of wearing them changed over time. From the evidence of burials we know that the brooches were first used to fix a dress with one brooch on each shoulder. Later on, the brooches were worn at waist or thigh level when they were worn either on a decorative band suspended from a belt or perhaps were used to fasten a wrap-around skirt or dress. Bow brooches are named after the arch or bow in their middle and were fastened with a pin and catch on their back, similar to a safety-pin mechanism.
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