A fixed-pin penannular-style plaid brooch. The design of this brooch is meant to evoke various stands of Celtic art.
The lower pattern on this plaid brooch is inspired by the ‘key patterns’ seen on many examples of pictish carving, such as the Aberlemno Cross, the Hilton Stone or the Cadboll stone. The intricate interlaced knotwork above is found throughout the culturally Celtic parts of early medieval Britain, represented eternity and the twisting threads of fate – likewise symbolised by the entwined antlers.
Brooches with large movable central pins were near universal as garment fasteners in the Iron Age, although the design was heartily adopted and elaborated by the peoples of Scotland and Ireland in the centuries between 700 and 900AD.
This is a large brooch, 104mm long and 85mm wide – ideal for use with our fly plaids, or upon a shawl. The plaid brooch was traditionally a decorative weight, to keep the plaid attached to the wearer, as well as to show off the status of its wearer.
