Beautiful gold Shropshire sun pendant

Shropshire 5

Image by thesweetcheat

Rhiannon Mar 4, 2020 20:42:10

It's to go on show in Shrewsbury in November, and eventually end up near the Mold cape in the British Museum.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/mar/04/british-museum-acquires-3000-year-old-shropshire-sun-pendant
What a fantastically fine, beautifully etched design. It's only about 5 centimeters long. How would you do that without your glasses on?! (I guess people of that era hadn't ruined their eyesight staring at computers all the time).
Neil Wilkin, the BM's Bronze Age curator, says it's the best thing to have emerged from the dirt in a century.

"All the correct procedures were adhered to in that it was reported to the local finds liaison officer who notified the coroner and brought it to the British Museum under the treasure process." Which might suggest by omission that all the correct procedures were not adhered to in that it was snatched excitedly out of the ground the minute the finder saw the glint of gold, whereupon they danced and sang a little tune, and totally forgot to call an archaeologist to carefully examine the context of its long-time home . But who knows, the article declines to say.

It was found somewhere boggy and it's suggested it was a jolly good offering, similar to other abandoned things in boggy places (but aren't those generally not gold, and more Iron age? I don't know).

Rhiannon Mar 4, 2020 20:46:40

Replying to Rhiannon

Ah I see Ryaner has already posted this in 'News'. I got overexcited you see. And that's from just seeing the photo. I'm not claiming I wouldn't have snatched it out of the ground myself, you know.

thesweetcheat Mar 5, 2020 07:39:54

Replying to Rhiannon

Well, that's a very lovely thing. I would definitely do a little dance if I found that, just before calling the FLO hotline.

Nice to see Shropshire in some positive news, recently the headlines there are all flood-related. Mind you, we seem to be having a year of biblical-type problems so far, floods, plagues, locusts in the handwash aisle, etc. Perhaps it's time for us to be making offerings to the Gods ourselves. If everyone chucked their smartphones in the nearest pond, perhaps the sun would come out, the flood waters would recede and the sick would rise from their beds. I reckon our ancestors were onto something.

amd Jun 7, 2020 09:49:51

Replying to Rhiannon

This has got the cogs going on how it was manufactured and decorated. They don't say if it is solid gold throughout or has some base metal substructure.

I picked up a copy of Susan Young's 'The Work of Angels: Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork: 6th to 9th Centuries', full of brooches, pins and bowls all featuring astounding decoration. The book has a 40 page section on techniques of the metalsmiths, and two things leapt out at me:

First was how much casting was involved in decoration, using clay moulds of models (possibly lost wax). There are examples in the book of mould remnants for penannular brooches.

Second was evidence of animal bones with fine incised decoration.

I don't think they say it in the book (they concentrate on the bones providing practice surfaces and shareable design sources) but I imagine carving fine detail into bone, pressing softer materials into it to take on the decoration, then casting the result is going to give you very crisp detail.

nigelswift Jun 7, 2020 12:28:15

Replying to Rhiannon

It'll look nice next to the Mold Cape. Wonder if the curators wear them when the museum is closed. I would.