Decorative Metal Work: A.D 780- c. 1150
As might be expected among a race of
aggressive outdoor warriors, Viking art tends to be more functional and
symbolic. Since Vikings were often moving from place to place, most art
consists of portable artworks. Their metalworking was a high quality and both
influenced and inspired by Celtic metal work art. Early Viking art focused on
jewelry and weapons while later craftsmen are known for their silver-work.
Viking art is based on abstract animal forms and were most frequently applied
to objects in daily use, for example swords, bridles, and buckles. Why animals?
Vikings were essentially warrior-herdsman so their economy was based partly on
animals and plunder. They were documenting this lifestyle in art using metals
like silver, pewter, and gold. “Silver was a popular metal for jewelry such as
brooches, rings, strap ends, buckles, mounts for drinking horns and, of course,
for coinage”[1].
Inlay was used to decorate the metal
works after the final smithing. Small lines or dots would be punched into the
iron then very fine silver or copper wire is clipped and placed into the lines
or dots on the ironwork. This wire is then beaten into the iron, sometimes to
decorate an object more a gold foil wash is put on the surface and “this was
done by grinding up pure gold and mercury together, creating an amalgam. The
paste was then applied to the appropriate areas of the work, and then heated in
an oven, driving off the mercury as a toxic vapor. The gold was then bound to
the surface of the work”[2].
Silver arm and neck rings were quite
popular and this was made by silver wire being twisted or hammering a band of
ingot. They were very popular because it was essentially mobile money used as a
form of payment rather than using coins. Testing marks can be seen on some indicating
that they could have been used as a bullion payment by weight for goods
purchased. It would have been checked at the time of the transaction to ensure
that it was solid silver and not merely of plated base metal. “A Viking could
not be too careful! A passage in the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason tells how the king
sent the queen of Sweden a gold ring taken from the door of a pagan temple.
However, she became very angry when her smiths tested it and found it contained
brass.”[3]
Gold was seemingly only used for jewelry and to enhance the gold even more
granulation and filigree work was used. “This often took the form of a thin
gold sheet pressed via a bronze matrix and trimmed into shape. Thin drawn wires
were then wound into various designs and applied to the surface of the gold
sheet. A flux of pigs fat was already on the sheet to help temporally fix the
wires in situ. These wires could also be impressed regularly, creating an
unbroken beaded wire”[4].
Sometimes stones like garnets were
put into the gold. Seeing the finished project through archaeology is
interesting but the process also shows how much work is put into each piece.
Jewelry making specifically was a specialist craft and looking at some
excavations one can find ‘trial pieces’ which are usually carvings on animal
bone, pre-sketches. They could also have possibly been used as advertisement to
show their customers what they can do. “The ruins of the ‘school’ at Nendrum
have yielded a whole collection of these note-book pages which in this case
carried scribal as well as drawing exercises, as various shapes of letters are
found besides animals and ornaments”[5].
As mentioned in the introduction this
art was influenced by Celtic art which used metal work as a way to express
artistically. This metalwork concentrated on three broad fields of weaponry,
personal ornaments, and vessels. These fields were further broken downs in
different aspects of early Celtic art. Anthropomorphic imagery was used quite
often in that even humans had a stylized look and by exaggerating their
features the figures were dehumanized but they became more outwardly or
supernatural. Another field or art form is geometric decoration. “Geometric
ornament was produced in Europe over a span of thousands of years, probably
indeed from the founding of farming communities between the seventh and fifth
millennia onwards”[6].
Geometric is pretty self-explanatory in that simple patterns are repeated. The
main features of Celtic art were closely tied to paganism which is why the
Vikings were drawn to the style.
There are six main Viking art styles,
they are all zoomorphic, what separates them is how the figures are presented
whether they are contorted, intertwined, or presented with tendrils. Dating is
difficult because some styles overlap each other. The first style is the
Oseberg style from AD 780-850. The name of this style came from the Oseberg
ship burial in which objects with this style were found. “The Oseberg Burial is
a Viking ship burial, located on the banks of the Oslo Fjord in Norway. Oseberg
is one of several ship burials in the Slagen district, but it is the richest of
such burials”[7]. The
main features of this style are a beast or creature and the use of smaller
sinuous animals. Sometimes the beast is called a ‘gripping beast’ because its
paws grip the borders. Good examples of this style are some gilt-bronze
bridle-mounts (image 1) that were found in a man’s grave at Broa on Gotland.
Looking closely you can see the beast with his paws on both sides of the bridle
mount in the center and on all of them contorted smaller animals can be seen.
To clarify a bridle mount is a hook, rack or similar device that you hang
bridles on when the horse is not wearing them. “It was obviously a style that
appealed to the Vikings, for it remained an important motif in Viking art for
over a hundred and fifty years”[8].
The next style known as the Borre
Style from AD 840-970 comes from another set of bridle mounts from a ship
burial at Borre in Vest fold, Norway. The style of the ‘gripping beast’ is
still used but looking at silver-gilt pendant (image 2) from a hoard in Varby,
Sweden one can see the heads of the beasts are more pronounced and have
protruding ears. Looking also at items from the British Museum a silver disc
brooch (image 3) has elaborate decorations of the Borre Style. Looking closely
there is a lot going on; four animals bite each other surrounding a main beast
which has eight heads. On the edge you can see human figures grabbing their
beards and more animal heads. The edges are also nicked to imitate beaded wire.
“Circular brooches were usually worn singly by women on Gotland, to fasten an
outer garment such as a cloak. In this case the lug for a chain suggests the
brooch could have been linked to another item, possibly of jewelry”[9].
Common with the circular brooches is
a symbol of three which is said to represent the three cauldrons which make the
sacred mead in Valhalla. This circular brooch also in a way shows the
reemergence of the Nordic style dating from 450 AD, what really gives it away
is the tiny crouching animals and distinct geometric patterns which are
separated. The influence of the “magnificent brooches of the late 6th
century, with their wild exuberance of abstract patterns and baroque opulence
of relief, were special to Scandanavia”[10].
Another piece is a reins guide (image 4) to help when pulling a wagon or a sled
with a horse. Both sides have the Borre style with animal masks and interlacing
bodies. The last piece from the British museum is a trefoil brooch (image 5) or
three loops. Each arm has the Borre style and these brooches were used to
fasten a cloak or shawl on the breast. The circle or ring which will be seen
throughout all the styles is an ancient symbol of the eternal which is why many
arm bands were circular so when they are given as a gift they represent an
eternal sacred oath.
This circle shape is also seen in a
particular piece called a bracteate,
from the Latin word bractea, meaning
a thin sheet. This pendant instead of the usual decoration on both sides had it
only on one side. “The stamped pattern usually consisted of various motifs (a
human head, a man and an animal, or a single animal) surrounded by a peripheral
frieze”[11].
These were usually worn as amulets or possibly religious symbols like the
cross. As some would believe the cross was a form of protection so would
Vikings believe these pendants had a magical significance protecting the
wearer. What is interesting when studying the earliest group of bracteates is
their obvious intention to imitate the imperial portraits on Roman coins.
How were they exposed to something
like this? “From the 4th century on medals portraying the emperor
were probably given to the Chiefs as tokens of friendship and recognition”[12].
The Vikings could see that this medal portrayed the emperor as a symbol of
power and had a superstitious reverence. They used this symbology to translate
from the naturalistic Roman style to the more abstract Scandinavian style. It
is obvious that this style became very popular because of the numerous finds of
gigantic brooches. “The ‘thistle brooches’, which have a murderous looking pin
and three large bristling balls, sometimes gilt, and others whose spheres are
either smooth or decorated with key patterns or gold filigree”[13].
The pins vary also for example the kyte brooch has an extremely stout pin and
the pendant is held at some distance in front of it probably to hang over the
edge of something thick like fur.
The Jellinge Style from AD 880-1000
is named after a small cup (image 6) found in a royal burial mound in Jellinge,
Denmark. Looking at the cup you can see there is no gripping beast instead
there are animals shaped like an S and spirals. Borre and Jellinge style
sometimes fused together in some examples. The Mammen style from AD 950-1030
grew directly out of the Jellinge style so it can be difficult to tell the
difference. The name comes from a small decorated axe-head (image 7) from a
grave in Mammen, Denmark. Looking at the axe one can see it is inlaid with
silver wires, here the creature appears to be bird-like with a thick
ribbon-like body and spiral hips. This could also be a dragon which is said to
be a dweller of burial mounds and associated with power, fertility, protection,
and wisdom; all wanted and strong traits of a Viking. At the top is a human face with a spiral
beard.
Two caskets said to have come from
the idea of reliquaries have a mammen style of ornament. The Bamberg Casket
(image 8 and 9) has gilt-bronze bands engraved with a tendril pattern and the
Cammin Casket (image 10 and 11) is very similar in nature possibly made by the
same workshop. The Ringerike Style from AD 980-1030 “is infused with the
general liveliness that we must learn to recognize as the Ringerike Style”[14].
About this time erecting stone monuments became popular and this style is
similar to the decorated stones. The Soderala weathervane (image 12) is a good
example in which the animals are thinner and more curvaceous and the tendrils
are thinner and longer. It “has a large beast with an intertwined body
surrounded by swarms of dragons, serpents, and intricate knots in which it is
often difficult to distinguish the animal elements from the vegetable”[15]. This
style seems to personify the Vikings most with an almost gale like force going
over the composition. The beast is very taut and strained like an animal ready
to pounce and the surrounding swarms teem with life and give out a general
excitement. It is interesting to note that modern wind vanes point up-wind, the
direction from which the wind is coming while the Viking style points down-wind
in the direction the wind is going. The Viking style lets one know what
direction the wind will take them, it’s an interesting difference in outlook.
The last phase of Viking Art is the
Urnes style dating from c. 1040-1150. This name comes from the fabulous carved
wooden doors at the Stave Church (image 13) located at Urnes, Norway. “In
general Urnes takes two forms, a Great Beast Pattern and a Ringerike-pattern
derivative”[16].
This style is very refined with many curving lines; a good example is the
Pitney Brooch (image 14) at the British Museum. With its plant-like tendrils
and ribbon animals it is clear that it is the Urnes style. “There is evidence
for both the north and the south of the country of the popularity of the style
for the embellishment of costly objects, and we may reasonably expect to find
that Urnes ornament did appreciably affect English art of the period”[17].
“Brooches, many of which are gilded, were made by a complex casting process
involving the use of a wax model, clay molds and a piece of textile which
determined the thickness of the metal and often left an impression on the
underside of the brooch. Finished brooches could also be used as models, and
even copies then made of copies. As a result, the designs became standardized,
but also often degenerating, as the details were reworked or altered. The
discovery of fragments of the clay molds has helped to identify centers of manufacture.
Viking oval brooches have been found in areas settled by the Vikings right
across northern Europe, from Ireland and Iceland to the Volga in Russia.”[18]
These styles also are seen in the
numerous weapons and armor of the time. In the eastern coast of Sweden many
helmets (image 16) and decorated weapons were found. “The helmets apparently
drive from Roman models, as they consist of a shallow, semi-circular iron
casque, with a bronze crest along the crown which is continued as a nose guard”[19].
Some of these helmets also had ear flaps for protection. This decoration didn’t
necessarily have a protective purpose but the helmets almost appear sinister
and powerful because of the ornamentation.
Sometimes actual mounts would be put
onto the helmet usually depicting a warrior of some kind and these warriors
would be depicted as animals and real helmets found would actually resemble
mask with tusks in which the said warrior is trying to look like a boar. “This
is not unlikely, from the later ages we know of warriors who identified
themselves with wild beasts like wolves or bears and were considered exceptionally
wild and dangerous”[20]. Many highly decorative sword pommels (images
17-21) have been found also in a hoard called Straffordshire, 86 so far. Many
have a zoomorphic garnet decoration; another seems to have two boars on one
side and a bearded man on the other. The boar is known to be connected to the
god and goddess Freyr and Frejya and protection from harm. The gold sword
pommels seem to be the most frequent with a variety of interlace ornament
types. “All free men in Viking society were entitled to own and carry weapons:
spear heads are the most commonly found weapon of the Viking period. Although
often discovered in graves, there is much discussion about why so many weapons
from this period were lost or deliberately put into rivers, notably the Thames in
the London area.”[21]
So why did the Vikings do it? Why all
the decoration? Decoration can have many different meanings. In the economy it
has material value; socially it has significance for status and position within
a structure that the Vikings lived. Religiously also it can be important
especially when the Vikings converted to Christianity because decoration can be
used to express veneration of ones God or Gods. Magic was very real to the
Vikings so it is possible that these decorations gave the object an inherent
power. Decoration is a means of communication not just between each other but
also between the wielder and the spiritual world. Elements like gold and silver
have always been associated with the divine and Vikings probably saw this when
they raided monasteries taking the golden reliquaries and altars. Vikings were
a proud and powerful people and this is shown in their restless, action
oriented art which has a strong confident style like their warrior attitudes.
Bibliography
Anderson, Aron. The Art of
Scandinavia Volume Two. Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited: New York, 1970.
Anker, Peter. The
Art of Scandinavia Volume One. Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited: New York,
1970.
Campbell, J. Viking
artifacts: a select cat (London, The British Museum Press, 1980). http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/s/silv er_disc_brooch.aspx.
Finlay, Ian. Celtic Art. Noyes Press: Park Ridge, New
Jersey, 1973.
Henry, Francoise. Irish Art during the
Viking Invasions. Cornell University Press: New York, 1967. P. 132.
Kendrick, T.D. Late Saxon
and Viking Art. Methuen and Co. LTD: London, 1949.
Williamson, Roland. Non-Ferrous
Metal Working. Last updated 31 March, 2003. http://www.regia.org/othermetalwork.htm
[1]Williamson, Roland. Non-Ferrous Metal Working.
Last updated 31 March, 2003. http://www.regia.org/othermetalwork.htm
[2] Non-Ferrous Metal Working.
[3] J.
Graham-Campbell, Viking artifacts: a select cat (London, The British Museum
Press, 1980).
[4] Non-Ferrous Metal Working.
[5] Henry, Francoise. Irish Art during the Viking
Invasions. Cornell University Press: New York, 1967. P. 34. 132.
[6]
Finlay, Ian. Celtic Art. Noyes Press:
Park Ridge, New Jersey, 1973. P. 24.
[8] The Broa/Oseberg Style.
http://www.archeurope.com/index.php?page=broa-oseberg-style.
[9] J. Graham-Campbell, Viking artifacts: a select
cat (London, The British Museum Press, 1980).
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/s/silver_disc_brooch.aspx
[10] Anker,
Peter. The Art of Scandinavia Volume One.
Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited: New York, 1970. P. 51.
[11]
Anker, Peter. The Art of Scandinavia Volume One. Hamlyn Publishing Group
Limited: New York, 1970 P. 43.
[12] The
Art of Scandinavia Volume One. p.
43
[13] Henry,
Francoise. Irish Art during the Viking Invasions. Cornell University Press: New
York, 1967. P. 128.
[14] Kendrick, T.D. Late Saxon and Viking Art. Methuen
and Co. LTD: London, 1949. P. 100
[15] Anderson, Aron. The Art of Scandinavia Volume
Two. Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited: New York, 1970. P. 329.
[16] Kendrick, T.D. Late Saxon and Viking Art. Methuen
and Co. LTD: London, 1949. P. 114.
[17] Kendrick,
T.D. Late Saxon and Viking Art. Methuen and Co. LTD: London, 1949. P. 119.
[18] Campbell,
J. Viking artifacts: a select cat (London, The British Museum Press, 1980). http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/s/silver_disc_brooch.aspx.
[19] Anker, Peter. The Art of Scandinavia Volume
One. Group Limited: New York, 1970. P. 53.
[20] The Art of Scandinavia Volume One p. 54.
[21] Campbell,
J. Viking artifacts: a select cat (London, The British Museum Press, 1980).http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/s/silver_disc_brooch.aspx.
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