Brooch, gold, originally set with garnets, fish shaped, France, 6th century AD.

Brooch, gold in the form of a fish. Originally set with garnets, all are now missing except for one.

Purchased as part of the Castellani Collection by the British Museum in 1872: BM object number .72 6-4, 765. Transferred to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1939. The excavation site of the brooch is not known, however similar fish brooches cited in the Quast article can be traced to burials at Charnay, Department of Saône-et-Loire, France and Freilaubersheim, Alzey, Germany.

Though not as numerous as circular brooches, several zoomorphic Frankish brooches with polychromic decoration survive. The bird motif occurs frequently, as do examples of horses, more abstract quadrupeds and fish. A group of Frankish jewellery from the Oise area in northern France, including buckles and fibulae, all display a fish in the centre in high relief. Françoise Vallet has suggested that a similarity in the gold work of these pieces establishes a connection with the Mediterranean which permits a Christian interpretation of the motif.

The present fish brooch however, is more closely related to a group considered by D.Quast in Die Kunde; a group of fibulae and buckles which take a fish shape and are decorated with cloissons. In this group M.120-1939 receives the most realistic treatment. Quast is adamant that the fish symbol can only be understood as a Christian symbol if combined with other Christian motifs and with a provenance in an area known to be Christian. The widespread use of the fish symbol in pre-Christian times shows that it is not of purely Christian origin. The fish on its own may not be enough to identify the religion of the owner. Only golden crosses which were made shortly before burial and demonstrate a conscious adoption of Christian symbolism can be clearly identified as Christian symbols.

The exact provenance of the present fish brooch can not be identified. However it is distinctly Frankish. Similar fish brooches cited in the Quast article can be traced to burials at Charnay, Department of Saône-et-Loire, France and Freilaubersheim, Alzey, Germany. Although similar, the differences between the brooches are sufficiently great to suggest that they were made at separate workshops, rather than disseminated from the same place of origin. In the sixth century the Frankish kingdoms extended across western Europe from the Pyrennes to just west of the Rhine. Clovis King of the Franks from 481-511 was baptised in 496 (importantly embracing orthodox Christianity rather than the Arianism preferred by his neighbours the Visigoths, Ostrogoths and Burgundians). Although from the earliest years of Frankish Christianity, it is possible that the brooch did have religious significance.

Vallet made a link between the present brooch and a brooch from Bréban, for which neither an illustration nor verbal description survives. The burial ground of Bréban was excavated in a series of campaigns from 1867 onwards. Not all of the finds were transferred to the Museum of Troyes and Quast has proposed the possibility, that part of the discoveries may have made their way to the British Museum in 1872 as a part of the Castellani collection.

The origins of inlaid Frankish jewellery are considered to be found in the Greek Villages on the north shore of the black sea. It was there that the Goths encountered and adopted the materials and techniques of inlaid jewellery, using them in the decoration of all manner of personal items. This type of jewellery was then transmitted to the Franks through the movement of the Goths. It was proposed by Labarte that the best Frankish inlaid work such as the sword of Childeric was actually Byzantine workmanship, and it is not unlikely that this type of jewellery was well known on the Bosphorous which was the key trade route linking the Black Sea to the Aegean and Mediterranean. There were close political links between the two Empires - Clovis was presented with an honourary consulship in 508. However no other piece of inlaid jewellery exists which can be attributed firmly to the Byzantine Empire in its earliest centuries.

Though not as numerous as circular brooches, several zoomorphic Frankish brooches with colourful decoration survive. The bird motif occurs frequently, as do examples of horses, more abstract quadrupeds and fish. The fish emblem was as an emblem used by early Christians. However the widespread use of the fish symbol in pre-Christian times shows that it is not of purely Christian origin. Only golden crosses which were made shortly before burial and demonstrate a conscious adoption of Christian symbolism can be clearly identified as statements of faith.

M.120-1939