Animal Brooch - Urnes Style

Material - Bronze
Size - 4.3cm in diameter

This brooch was found under todays Wisbech and Fenland Museum on the west coast of the United Kingdom. The original is now part of the museums collection.

Urnes style describes a group of forms in the late phase of Scandinavian Viking art during the 11th century. It is defined by elongated animals combined with thin interlaced lines and is typically found in jewelry, as well as runestone carvings and building decorations.

This particular brooch is especially interesting, as it is a child of the migration of Scandinavian designs to England through trade, conquest and journeys of the Scandinavian people. In England the Scandinavian forms were replicated, copied, changed and developed into an English version of the style, which was typically more round and thicker than its Scandinavian model.

Scroll through the pictures to see the original brooch and the drawing I created as a process of the replication.