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Anglo Saxon and Celtic Jewellery

Anglo Saxon and Celtic Jewellery. Iconography and Metal- Smithing Techniques With Jason N. Bellchamber. Saxon Wolf Symbolism . The wolf was often an inspiration for names in Anglo-Saxon England. Bardawulf (Bright Wolf) Randwulf (Shield Wolf) Wulfric (Wolf Power/Ruler) Æthelwulf

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Anglo Saxon and Celtic Jewellery

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  1. Anglo Saxon and Celtic Jewellery Iconography and Metal-Smithing Techniques With Jason N. Bellchamber

  2. Saxon Wolf Symbolism • The wolf was often an inspiration for names in Anglo-Saxon England. • Bardawulf (Bright Wolf) • Randwulf (Shield Wolf) • Wulfric (Wolf Power/Ruler) • Æthelwulf • Wuffa • And of course Beowulf

  3. Staffordshire “Sword” Seax Hilt

  4. Cultural Connections • In the 4th century as Rome withdrew from Britain they utilized Angles, Jutes and Saxons as bodyguards. • The Romans capitalized on their cultural similarity of wolf idolizing - Romulous and Remus and the Saxons kinship to the wolf when they used them as hired mercenaries and soldiers in Europe.

  5. Suffolk Bracteate 4th Century

  6. Roman and Saxon Icons Mixed • “This early and unique bracteate was a stray find made by a farmer in Suffolk. The figural images were adapted from a Late Roman Urbs Roma coin of a type issued by Constantine the Great between AD 330 and 335. The coins have a helmeted head of the emperor on the obverse and Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf on the reverse, which the maker of this bracteate has conflated. Such coins were widely circulated and the artist must have copied an heirloom.”-British Musuem

  7. Celtic Connections • The Golden age Celts also revered the wolf as a power animal in nature • http://www.bellchamber.net/catalogue/rings/four_wolfhounds.htm • The icon of the lion was first represented by a wolf in the book of Lindisfarne an 8th century gospel book (Saxon Hiberno/Celtic)

  8. Celtic Wolf Motifs

  9. Other Similar Icons • Ravens – always found in Pairs. • Lugh – Irish sun gods famillairs • Odin – Has a pair of Ravens - Hugin and Mugin • Celtic Knotwork (aka Interlace) may have been inspired by simple Saxon interlace. Celtic Interlace is developed in the 6th and 7th century by Pictish Stone carvers in Scotland producing Celtic Crosses under the influence of : St.Columba of Ireland, the Saxons of York and Glasgow.

  10. Metalsmithing Techniques • The Saxons already utilized Bronzesmithing and Blacksmithing techniques to make weapons and armour. These include casting and forging of Iron or Bronze. • Weapons would have been made by pouring molten metal into ingots (dies) and then hammered on anvils into different shapes (sword, seax, spear, arrowhead) and polished and sharpened with hand tools such as files or burnishers.

  11. Jewellery Making • Modern goldsmithing techniques haven't changed much when it involves handmaking gold or silver work. • Techniques include: Lost wax casting, Reposse (Pushing the design from behind on a foil plate), Intaglio (using acid to etch a design into the surface of the metal), Hand Engraving with a steel point and Welding with a flame. • Pairing or combining these techniques can create a very pleasing work.

  12. Modern Recreation

  13. Modern Recreation Celtic Wolf

  14. Staffordshire Wolf

  15. Suffolk Bracteate

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