Back to Front: Observations on the development and production of decorated backing foils for garnet cloisonné
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Published
Nov 12, 2021
Abstract
Scientific analysis and discussion of the reflective metal foils set behind garnet inlays has concentrated on waffle-patterned foils produced in the late 6th and 7th centuries AD. This paper examines 5th-century AD waffl e, ring-and-dot and rare feather-patterned foils which may derive from the decorative repertoire of late Roman gold and silver working. The production of the multiple inlay elements characteristic of garnet cloisonné, however, demanded a more rapid means of fabrication. Current theories regarding the manufacture of cloisonné backing foils are reconsidered in the light of the varied appearance of actual foils and the technological capability that might be expected of an early medieval workshop. Experiments in producing primary models suggest that textiles or thread could be used to impress clay with grids for waffl e and ring-and-dot foils. These clay models could have been used on their own or for casting positive or negative dies in copper alloy.
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References
Adams D N 1991, Late antique, migration period and early Byzantine garnet cloisonné ornaments (unpublished PhD thesis, University College, London).
Adams N 1992, ‘Lost wax casting with textiles – a survey of the process with special reference to Ordos and late Avar period belt fittings’, pre-print from The International Academic Conference of Archaeological Cultures of the Northern Chinese Ancient Nations, Huehote, China, August 11–18, 1992.
Adams N 2000, ‘The development of early garnet inlaid ornaments’ in C Bálint (ed), Kontakte zwischen Iran, Byzanz und der Steppe in 6.–7. Jh, Varia Archaeologica Hungarica 9, 13–70.
Adams N 2003, ‘Garnet inlays in the light of the Armaziskhevi dagger hilt’, Medieval Archaeology 47, 167–75.
Adams N forthcoming, ‘The rock crystal pendant from Grave 391B’ in I Ridler (ed), Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
Arrhenius B 1985, Merovingian garnet jewellery, emergence and social implications (Stockholm).
Arts des chevaliers 2007, Arts des chevaliers en pays d’Islam. Collection de la Furusiyya Art Foundation, exhibition catalogue, Institut de Monde Arabe (Paris).
Avent R and Leigh D 1977, ‘A study of cross-hatched gold foils in Anglo-Saxon jewellery’, Medieval Archaeology 21, 1–50.
Axboe M 1984, ‘Positive and negative versions in the making of chip-carving ornament’, Universitetets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter 5, 31–42.
Belting-Ihm C 1963, ‘Spätrömische Buckelarmringe mit Reliefdekor’, Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanische Zentralmuseum 10, 97–117.
Bierbrauer, V 1975, Die Ostgotischen Gräb- und Schatzfunde in Italien (Spoleto).
Bimson M 1985, ‘Dark-Age garnet cutting’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 125–8.
Bloșiu C 1974, ‘Noi Observatii și Ipoteze cu Privire la Mormîntul de la Concești’, Cercetări istorice 5, 59–80.
Damm, I G 1988, ‘Goldschmiedarbeiten der Völkerwanderungszeit aus dem Nördlichen Schwarzmeergebiet, Katalog der Sammlung Diergardt 2’, Kölner Jarhbuch für Vor- und Frühgeschichte 21, 65–210.
Deppert-Lippitz B 1996, ‘Late Roman splendor: jewelry from the age of Constantine’, Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 1, 30–71.
East K 1985, ‘A study of the cross-hatched gold foils from Sutton Hoo’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 129–42.
Effenberger A, Maršak B, Zalesskaja V and Zaseckaja I 1978, Spätantike und früh-byzantinische Silbergefässe aus der Staatlichen Ermitage Leningrad (Berlin).
Eichholz D E (trans) 1962, Pliny’s Natural History, Books 36–37 (Cambridge, MS and London: Loeb Classical Library).
Geisler H 1998, Das frühbairische Gräberfeld Straubing-Bajuwarenstraße I, (Straubing: International Archäologie 30).
Gonzenbach V von 1984, ‘Achillesplatte’, in H Cahn and A Kaufmann-Heinimann (eds), Der spätrömische Silberschatz von Kaiseraugst (Derendingen), 225 –307.
Gosonová A and Kondoleon C 1994, Art of Late Rome and Byzantium in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA).
Heidinga, H A 1990 ‘From Kootwijk to Rhenen: in search of the élite in the Central Netherlands in the Early Middle Ages’, in J C Besteman, J M Bos and H A Heidinga (eds), Medieval archaeology in the Netherlands. Studies presented to H H van Regteren Altena (Assen/Maastricht), 9–40.
Hinton D and White R 1993 ‘A smith’s hoard from Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire: a synopsis’, Anglo-Saxon England 22, 147–166.
Høilund-Nielsen K P and Vary Petersen P 1993, ‘Detector finds’, in S Hvass and B Storgaard (eds), Digging into the past, 25 Years of Archaeology in Denmark (Århus), 223–8.
Horedt K and Protase D 1970, ‘Ein völkerwanderungszeitlicher Schatzfund aus Cluj-Someșeni (Siebenbürgen)’, Germania 48, 85–98.
Kent J P C and Painter K 1977, Wealth of the Roman World AD 300–700 (London)
Krüger B (ed) 1983, Die Germanen (Berlin).
Latif M 1982, Bijoux Moghols, Mogol Juwelen, Mughal Jewels (Brussels).
Lepage C 1971, ‘Les bracelets de luxe Romains et Byzantines du IIe au VIe siècle. Étude de la forme et de la structure’, Cahiers Archéologiques 21, 1–23.
Lipinsky A 1961, ‘Il Gioiello di San Francesco, un Diadema Tardo-Romano Perduto’, Felix Ravenna 84, fasc 33 (Ravenna).
Mango M and Bennett A 1994, The Sevso Treasure, Part One (Ann Arbor, MI: Journal of Roman Archaeology supplementary series No 12, Part 1).
Marshall F H 1904, ‘Buddhist gold jewellery’, Annual Report of the Archaeological Society of India 1902–3, 185–94.
Maryon H 1971, Metalwork and enamelling (London).
Mattingly H and Pearce J W E 1937, ‘The Coleraine Hoard’, Antiquity 11, 39–45.
Meeks N D and Holmes R 1985, ‘The Sutton Hoo garnet jewellery: an examination of some backing foils and a study of their possible manufacturing techniques’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 143–157.
Megow W-R 1993, ‘Gemmen und Cameen der Griechen, Etrusker, Römer und Byzantiner’, in Aus den Schatzkammern Eurasiens, Meisterwerke Antike Kunst, Exhibition catalogue, Kunsthaus Zurich.
Menghin W, Springer T and Wamers E 1987, Germanen, Hunnen und Awaren, Schätze der Völkerwanderungszeit (Nürnberg).
Naumann F (ed) 1980, Antike Schmuck, Vollständiger Katalog der Sammlung und der Sonderausstellung vom 31.5. bis 31.8.1980 (Kassel).
Nijboer A J and van Reekum J E 1999, ‘Scientific analysis of the gold disc-on-bow brooch’ in J C Besteman, J M Bos, D A Gerret, H A Heidinga and J de Koning (eds), The Excavations at Wijnaldum, eports on Frisia in Roman and Medieval times, Vol 1 (Rotterdam/Brookfield), 203–15.
Pekarskaya L V and Kidd D 1994, Der Silberschatze von Martynovka (Ukraine) aus dem 6. und 7. Jahrhundert (Innsbruck). Perin P, Vallet F, Kazanski M et al 2000, L’Or des princes barbares, du Caucase à la Gaule au Ve siècle après J-C (Paris).
Ricci C 1905, Raccolte artistiche di Ravenna (Bergamo).
Roes A 1947, ‘Some gold torcs found in Holland’, Acta Archaeologica (Copenhagen) 18, 175–87.
Ross, M C 1965, Catalogue of the Byzantine and early medieval collections in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Volume Two, Jewelry, enamels and art of the migration period (Washington, DC).
Roth, H and Theune, C 1995, Das Frühmittelalterliche Gräberfeld bei Weingarten (Kr Ravensburg) (Stuttgart)
Rupp H 1937, Die Herkunft der Zelleneinlage und die Almandin-Scheibenfi beln im Rheinland (Bonn: Rheinische Forschungen zur Vorgeschichte, Band 2).
Smith R 1923, British Museum guide to Anglo-Saxon antiquities (London).
Spier J 1987, ‘A Byzantine pendant in the J Paul Getty Museum’, Getty Museum Journal 15, 5–14.
Stratford, N 1993, Catalogue of Medieval Enamels in the British Museum, Vol I, Northern Romanesque Enamel (London).
Stronge S, Smith N and Harle J C 1988, A Golden Treasury, jewellery from the Indian subcontinent (London).
Thompson D V (trans) 1954, The craftsman’s handbook. The Italian ‘Il libro dell’arte by Cennino d’Andrea Cennini (New York).
Tomka P 1986, ‘Der Hunnische Fürstenfund von Pannonhalma’, Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 38, 423–88.
Tulp C and Meeks N 2000, ‘The Tjitsma (Wijnaldum) die: a 7th century tool for making a cross-hatched pattern on gold foil, or a master template?’, Historical Metallurgy 34(1), 13–24.
Vierck H E F 1978, ‘La chemise de sainte Bathilde à Chelles et l’infl uence byzantine sur l’art de cour mérovingien au VIIe siècle’, in Actes du Colloque sur l’Abbé Cochet (Rouen), 521–64.
Yeroulanou A 1999, Diatrita, Gold-pierced-work jewellery from the 3rd to the 7th century (Athens).
Zahn R 1929, Sammlung Baurat Schiller/Berlin, Werke Antiker Kleinkunst (Berlin).
Zaseckaja I P 1993, ‘Materialy bosporskogo nekropolja vtoroj poloviny IV – pervoj poloviny V vv. n.e.’ Materialy po archeologii istorii i ethnografi i Tavrii 3, 23–263.
Adams N 1992, ‘Lost wax casting with textiles – a survey of the process with special reference to Ordos and late Avar period belt fittings’, pre-print from The International Academic Conference of Archaeological Cultures of the Northern Chinese Ancient Nations, Huehote, China, August 11–18, 1992.
Adams N 2000, ‘The development of early garnet inlaid ornaments’ in C Bálint (ed), Kontakte zwischen Iran, Byzanz und der Steppe in 6.–7. Jh, Varia Archaeologica Hungarica 9, 13–70.
Adams N 2003, ‘Garnet inlays in the light of the Armaziskhevi dagger hilt’, Medieval Archaeology 47, 167–75.
Adams N forthcoming, ‘The rock crystal pendant from Grave 391B’ in I Ridler (ed), Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
Arrhenius B 1985, Merovingian garnet jewellery, emergence and social implications (Stockholm).
Arts des chevaliers 2007, Arts des chevaliers en pays d’Islam. Collection de la Furusiyya Art Foundation, exhibition catalogue, Institut de Monde Arabe (Paris).
Avent R and Leigh D 1977, ‘A study of cross-hatched gold foils in Anglo-Saxon jewellery’, Medieval Archaeology 21, 1–50.
Axboe M 1984, ‘Positive and negative versions in the making of chip-carving ornament’, Universitetets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter 5, 31–42.
Belting-Ihm C 1963, ‘Spätrömische Buckelarmringe mit Reliefdekor’, Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanische Zentralmuseum 10, 97–117.
Bierbrauer, V 1975, Die Ostgotischen Gräb- und Schatzfunde in Italien (Spoleto).
Bimson M 1985, ‘Dark-Age garnet cutting’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 125–8.
Bloșiu C 1974, ‘Noi Observatii și Ipoteze cu Privire la Mormîntul de la Concești’, Cercetări istorice 5, 59–80.
Damm, I G 1988, ‘Goldschmiedarbeiten der Völkerwanderungszeit aus dem Nördlichen Schwarzmeergebiet, Katalog der Sammlung Diergardt 2’, Kölner Jarhbuch für Vor- und Frühgeschichte 21, 65–210.
Deppert-Lippitz B 1996, ‘Late Roman splendor: jewelry from the age of Constantine’, Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 1, 30–71.
East K 1985, ‘A study of the cross-hatched gold foils from Sutton Hoo’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 129–42.
Effenberger A, Maršak B, Zalesskaja V and Zaseckaja I 1978, Spätantike und früh-byzantinische Silbergefässe aus der Staatlichen Ermitage Leningrad (Berlin).
Eichholz D E (trans) 1962, Pliny’s Natural History, Books 36–37 (Cambridge, MS and London: Loeb Classical Library).
Geisler H 1998, Das frühbairische Gräberfeld Straubing-Bajuwarenstraße I, (Straubing: International Archäologie 30).
Gonzenbach V von 1984, ‘Achillesplatte’, in H Cahn and A Kaufmann-Heinimann (eds), Der spätrömische Silberschatz von Kaiseraugst (Derendingen), 225 –307.
Gosonová A and Kondoleon C 1994, Art of Late Rome and Byzantium in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA).
Heidinga, H A 1990 ‘From Kootwijk to Rhenen: in search of the élite in the Central Netherlands in the Early Middle Ages’, in J C Besteman, J M Bos and H A Heidinga (eds), Medieval archaeology in the Netherlands. Studies presented to H H van Regteren Altena (Assen/Maastricht), 9–40.
Hinton D and White R 1993 ‘A smith’s hoard from Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire: a synopsis’, Anglo-Saxon England 22, 147–166.
Høilund-Nielsen K P and Vary Petersen P 1993, ‘Detector finds’, in S Hvass and B Storgaard (eds), Digging into the past, 25 Years of Archaeology in Denmark (Århus), 223–8.
Horedt K and Protase D 1970, ‘Ein völkerwanderungszeitlicher Schatzfund aus Cluj-Someșeni (Siebenbürgen)’, Germania 48, 85–98.
Kent J P C and Painter K 1977, Wealth of the Roman World AD 300–700 (London)
Krüger B (ed) 1983, Die Germanen (Berlin).
Latif M 1982, Bijoux Moghols, Mogol Juwelen, Mughal Jewels (Brussels).
Lepage C 1971, ‘Les bracelets de luxe Romains et Byzantines du IIe au VIe siècle. Étude de la forme et de la structure’, Cahiers Archéologiques 21, 1–23.
Lipinsky A 1961, ‘Il Gioiello di San Francesco, un Diadema Tardo-Romano Perduto’, Felix Ravenna 84, fasc 33 (Ravenna).
Mango M and Bennett A 1994, The Sevso Treasure, Part One (Ann Arbor, MI: Journal of Roman Archaeology supplementary series No 12, Part 1).
Marshall F H 1904, ‘Buddhist gold jewellery’, Annual Report of the Archaeological Society of India 1902–3, 185–94.
Maryon H 1971, Metalwork and enamelling (London).
Mattingly H and Pearce J W E 1937, ‘The Coleraine Hoard’, Antiquity 11, 39–45.
Meeks N D and Holmes R 1985, ‘The Sutton Hoo garnet jewellery: an examination of some backing foils and a study of their possible manufacturing techniques’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 143–157.
Megow W-R 1993, ‘Gemmen und Cameen der Griechen, Etrusker, Römer und Byzantiner’, in Aus den Schatzkammern Eurasiens, Meisterwerke Antike Kunst, Exhibition catalogue, Kunsthaus Zurich.
Menghin W, Springer T and Wamers E 1987, Germanen, Hunnen und Awaren, Schätze der Völkerwanderungszeit (Nürnberg).
Naumann F (ed) 1980, Antike Schmuck, Vollständiger Katalog der Sammlung und der Sonderausstellung vom 31.5. bis 31.8.1980 (Kassel).
Nijboer A J and van Reekum J E 1999, ‘Scientific analysis of the gold disc-on-bow brooch’ in J C Besteman, J M Bos, D A Gerret, H A Heidinga and J de Koning (eds), The Excavations at Wijnaldum, eports on Frisia in Roman and Medieval times, Vol 1 (Rotterdam/Brookfield), 203–15.
Pekarskaya L V and Kidd D 1994, Der Silberschatze von Martynovka (Ukraine) aus dem 6. und 7. Jahrhundert (Innsbruck). Perin P, Vallet F, Kazanski M et al 2000, L’Or des princes barbares, du Caucase à la Gaule au Ve siècle après J-C (Paris).
Ricci C 1905, Raccolte artistiche di Ravenna (Bergamo).
Roes A 1947, ‘Some gold torcs found in Holland’, Acta Archaeologica (Copenhagen) 18, 175–87.
Ross, M C 1965, Catalogue of the Byzantine and early medieval collections in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Volume Two, Jewelry, enamels and art of the migration period (Washington, DC).
Roth, H and Theune, C 1995, Das Frühmittelalterliche Gräberfeld bei Weingarten (Kr Ravensburg) (Stuttgart)
Rupp H 1937, Die Herkunft der Zelleneinlage und die Almandin-Scheibenfi beln im Rheinland (Bonn: Rheinische Forschungen zur Vorgeschichte, Band 2).
Smith R 1923, British Museum guide to Anglo-Saxon antiquities (London).
Spier J 1987, ‘A Byzantine pendant in the J Paul Getty Museum’, Getty Museum Journal 15, 5–14.
Stratford, N 1993, Catalogue of Medieval Enamels in the British Museum, Vol I, Northern Romanesque Enamel (London).
Stronge S, Smith N and Harle J C 1988, A Golden Treasury, jewellery from the Indian subcontinent (London).
Thompson D V (trans) 1954, The craftsman’s handbook. The Italian ‘Il libro dell’arte by Cennino d’Andrea Cennini (New York).
Tomka P 1986, ‘Der Hunnische Fürstenfund von Pannonhalma’, Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 38, 423–88.
Tulp C and Meeks N 2000, ‘The Tjitsma (Wijnaldum) die: a 7th century tool for making a cross-hatched pattern on gold foil, or a master template?’, Historical Metallurgy 34(1), 13–24.
Vierck H E F 1978, ‘La chemise de sainte Bathilde à Chelles et l’infl uence byzantine sur l’art de cour mérovingien au VIIe siècle’, in Actes du Colloque sur l’Abbé Cochet (Rouen), 521–64.
Yeroulanou A 1999, Diatrita, Gold-pierced-work jewellery from the 3rd to the 7th century (Athens).
Zahn R 1929, Sammlung Baurat Schiller/Berlin, Werke Antiker Kleinkunst (Berlin).
Zaseckaja I P 1993, ‘Materialy bosporskogo nekropolja vtoroj poloviny IV – pervoj poloviny V vv. n.e.’ Materialy po archeologii istorii i ethnografi i Tavrii 3, 23–263.
How to Cite
Adams, N. (2021). Back to Front: Observations on the development and production of decorated backing foils for garnet cloisonné. Historical Metallurgy, 40(1), 12-26. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/230
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Articles
How to Cite
Adams, N. (2021). Back to Front: Observations on the development and production of decorated backing foils for garnet cloisonné. Historical Metallurgy, 40(1), 12-26. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/230