10th Century Danish Necklace Hooks(1), Hobby rozne, wikingowie - reko
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10th Century Danish Necklace Hooks
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10
th
Century Danish Necklace Hooks
June 2002 - April 2003
Summary
*
Historical Documentation
*
Norse Hanging Necklace
*
Necklace Hooks
*
Jelling Style Art
*
Copper-Alloy Casting
*
Metal Working
*
Materials and Tools
*
Method of Construction
*
Designing and Carving the Master Model
*
Preparing the Mold for the Master
*
Melting and Pouring the Master
*
Casting the Hooks
*
Finishing
*
Lessons Learned
*
Bibliography
*
Summary
On a trip to Denmark in 2001, I saw two pairs of necklace hooks in the Danish National Museum. These hooks answered a question I had pondered
for some time, which was how Norse women attached their necklaces between their brooches. I decided to make some necklace hooks, and learned a
lot about fire-polishing wax and casting bronze in the process. The result is a beautiful and practical form of jewelry.
Historical Documentation
Norse Hanging Necklace
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10th Century Danish Necklace Hooks
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Norse researchers
generally agree that
Norse women often
wore a pair of
brooches to pin the
dress and/or apron
together. The photo
to the right shows a
reconstruction of a
Norse female
costume with
brooches and
hanging necklace.
The theory that wealthy Norse women wore necklace segments strung between their brooches is based on physical placement of beads, brooches,
chains, and tools in many grave finds, because the strings on which the necklaces were hung have not survived. During my visit to the Danish
National Museum, I saw many necklace artifacts, many of which only had enough beads and pendants to be 10-14 inches long. This would be the
right distance to dangle between the brooches. My own research has also found many examples of brooches with loops near their
bottom edge, which further supports this theory.
Shown to the right is WOV 2013, the back of a
bronze brooch found at the Nygaarden site at
Nord-Troendelag, Norway. It shows the structure
of the pin, though the decoration on the pin holders
is a rare thing for brooches. Such decoration
would not be visible when the brooch was in use,
and may have been some kind of artist's signature.
At the bottom of the brooch can be seen a small
loop that may have been used for hanging
necklaces. However, as with many museum photos
and displays, the brooch is shown upside down, so
the loop is at the top of the photo.
My assertion deserves some explanation. The
brooch pin is attached at the top of the photo, with
the pin end and its keeper at the bottom of the
photo. Anyone who has worn Norse female garb,
such as my lady, can attest that the brooch is much
easier to put on and take off with the pin pointed
upward. Thus, I conclude that the museum has the brooch upside down in the photo, and the loop
shown could be used to hang a necklace. It is not uncommon to find such errors in museum
photos and reconstructions, where information gathered later supersedes an earlier interpretation.
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10th Century Danish Necklace Hooks
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Shown to
the near
right is
WOV
2015, a
pair of
composite
brooches
from
Viking
Age
Norway.
They have
animal-
head lugs
at the
bottom,
which
could be
loops for
the
attachment
of a hook.
It is
difficult to
be certain
in this
photo. The
far right
shows
WOV
2882, a
brooch
from
Lindholm,
which has
a large
loop.
To the right is WOV 4118, a brooch set
from Viking Age Finland, which has twin
round brooches, a single bar brooch (used
to pin the shawl, worn over the dress), and
some tools, all permanently joined by
bronze chains. This sort of arrangement
was undoubtedly more expensive than
using hooks, which are more versatile to
meet the needs of changing fashions.
Necklace Hooks
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10th Century Danish Necklace Hooks
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While I
took photos
of two pairs
of necklace
hooks in
the Danish
National
Museum,
they did not
come out
well, so I
must
describe
them from
memory
and the
poor-
quality
photos
shown to
the right.
The hooks
are bronze
but may
once have
been
gilded. As
with all the
Norse
jewelry
pairs
(brooches,
hooks, etc.)
that I have
seen, the
left is
identical to
the right,
rather than
the mirror
image that
the modern
artistic eye
expects.
Each hook
is shaped
vaguely
like a tall
triangle,
covered
with a
zoomorphic
animal
design. The
design used
on both the
museum
artifacts
was the
Jelling
style,
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10th Century Danish Necklace Hooks
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though this
is difficult
to tell, even
with the
enhanced
close-up
shown
here. Each
had a hook
at the apex
of the
triangle,
and four or
five
necklace
strands
were tied to
the back,
probably to
loops or
hooks,
though the
museum
display
make this
impossible
to see. The
hook with
five strands
also had a
small
"spreader"
bar at each
end of the
necklace,
with holes
through
which the
strands
went to
keep them
spaced
apart and
orderly.
Clearly, the archeologist's interpretation of these objects as necklace hooks is speculation. I have seen other similar hooks interpreted as garter hooks.
It is also possible that these hooks were chatelaines to hold the small tools that Norse women suspended from their brooches. However, the museum
artifacts interpreted as hooks were found in pairs, each with a quantity of beads, and one pair of hooks had spacers (small bits of wire with holes in
them). The presence of beads and spacers suggests these objects were hooks for a necklace set.
I was not able to accurately pinpoint these hook artifacts to a date and location, though the Danish National Museum included them in the Viking Age
section, and the Jelling art style dates them to the late 10
th
Century or early 11
th
Century.
Jelling Style Art
The Norse art known as the Jelling style, named after the Jelling cup, is characterized by ribbon-like animals knotted together, with different body
parts of varying thickness. The thicker body parts are generally covered with stylized patterns that may represent scales, fur, or feathers. The animals
usually have round eyes, with or without a pupil, and curls or spirals on the nose and sometimes at hip and shoulder joints. The overall animal is
difficult to identify as to its intended species. The shape of the ears and jaws and the number of limbs are the only clues to the type of animal. Unlike
Celtic knotwork or the zoomorphic designs seen in the Lindisfarne Gospel or the Book of Kells, the knotted pattern of a Jelling style animal is not
usually symmetrical, but flows gracefully and generally fills the available space. When more than one animal is used to fill a space, the overall
pattern could have radial symmetry, bilateral symmetry, or no symmetry at all.
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