Penannular Brooches
A Group Project: Hákon brimill, Hrefna blinda, Mariana Ruiz de Medina, and Sof’ia Dolgorukaia
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On July 17, 2021, Ponte Alto will host its first event since the Plague began, St. Paddy’s Bloodbath in July. This is a themed event pitting the inhabitants of late 8th century Ireland against the Norse raiders. In advance of this, Hákon brimill, Hrefna blinda, Mariana Ruiz de Medina, and Sof’ia Dolgorukaia got together to make copper penannular brooches. Two of these brooches will be prizes for the best Hiberno and best Norse A&S competition projects at Bloodbath.
Penannular brooches are often also called Celtic Brooches or open brooches. They are typically an incomplete ring with an opening for the pin. Once pinned into clothing, the ring is turned to lock the pin and pinned cloth into place.
The four experimental archaeologists attended Master Philippe de Lyon’s A&S Zoom class in April where he demonstrated how to make these brooches and used that as a basis for their techniques.
Step 1: Hammer the wire piece until it is flattened and more square shaped.
Step 2: Twist the ends to create terminals. This will keep the pin from falling off.
Sof’ia was good at this.
Step 3: Grabbing just inside of both terminals with pliers, twist copper length. This will twist the squared off copper to give different surfaces for the light to bounce off without unfurling the curled terminals too much.
Mariana perfected this technique.
Step 4: Bend the copper wire into a ring and then hammer into the correct shape using the horn of the anvil. The terminals can face in or out but once in shape, the space between the terminals should be just enough for the pin to go through.
Hrefna mastered hammering the brooches into shape.
Step 5: Create the pin from a smaller length of copper, long enough to overlap with the ring. Hammer it square and flatten on end. This end will be bent around the ring.
Hákon did an amazing job getting the very thin and delicate metal around the ring.
Hammering, bending, twisting the metal eventually hardens it and makes it more difficult to work. To increase its malleability, it may need to be annealed- heated with a flame and allowed to cool- before working again. Copper gets very hot along its entire length; use tongs or pliers to hold the copper while applying heat.
Hákon - Lord of the Flame
The Hoard
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