Antique jewelry glossary

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Pin brooch

A type of brooch in the form of a long pin (about 60 cm long) with a square-section attenuated shank. It is attached to a flat ornament, usually decorated with filigree niello, and white enamel, so that the pin can be swivelled to secure it.

Such brooches were made in Ireland in the Christian period of the Celtic era. An example is the Clonmacnois pin whose whereabouts today is unknown; a similar pin brooch, with different decoration, is in the National Museum of Ireland.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson