Bird-Shaped Brooch
Unknown Artist
first half 7th century
Medium
Silver-gilt, green glass
Dimensions
Overall: 1 3/8 x 9/16 x 3/8 in. (3.5 x 1.4 x 0.9 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Silver
Culture
Frankish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.191.73
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate Bird-Shaped Brooch, by an unknown Frankish artisan in the first half of the7th century, exemplifies exquisite metalwork of early medieval Europe. Hailing from the Meroving period—when the Franks dominated much of what is now and Germany—this tiny treasure (just 1 3/8 x 9/16 x 3/8 inches) likely served as a cloak fastener, blending functionality with artistry. Now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Art Department, it was generously gifted by financier J. Pierpont Morgan in 1917. Fashioned from silver-gilt—a technique where a thin layer of gold is applied over silver for a...