Large Brooch with Spirals
Unknown Artist
1200–800 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Overall: 10 15/16 x 4 x 2 9/16in. (27.8 x 10.2 x 6.5cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Bronze
Culture
European
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Caroline Howard Hyman Gift, in memory of Margaret English Frazer, 2000
Accession Number
2000.281.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking **Large Brooch with Spirals**, crafted from bronze around 1200–800 BCE, exemplifies the masterful metalworking of prehistoric Europe. Measuring nearly 11 inches across, this oversized pin would have served as both a practical garment fastener and a bold statement of status. Its swirling spiral motifs, elegantly incised or cast into the metal, evoke the dynamic energy of Bronze Age design, a period when European artisans honed advanced techniques like lost-wax casting to create durable, intricate objects. Bronze brooches like this one were essential accessories in daily life and ...