Disk Brooch
Unknown Artist
ca. 550–650
Medium
Copper alloy, silver, partial gilt, garnet, foil
Dimensions
Overall: 1 x 3/8 in. (2.5 x 0.9 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Copper alloy
Culture
Frankish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.192.80
Art Historical Context
This exquisite Disk Brooch, crafted by an unknown Frankish artisan around 550–650 CE, the masterful metalwork of the early medieval Merovingian period. Measuring just 1 x 3/8 inches (2.5 x 0.9 cm), this tiny jewel was likely used to fasten cloaks or garments, serving as both a practical accessory and a badge of elite status among the Frankish nobility in what is now France and Germany. Fashioned from copper alloy with silver inlays, partial gilding, garnets, and reflective foil, the brooch sophisticated techniques like garnet cloisonné—where gemstones are meticulously cut and set into cells, ...