Urnes Style Disc Brooch

Illustration

Irina-Maria Manea
by The Trustees of the British Museum
published on 20 December 2021
Urnes Style Disc Brooch Download Full Size Image

Dished gilt copper-alloy disc brooch, Urnes style, from Pitney, Somerset, c. 11th century.

The British Museum, London.

Within a scalloped border, the convex surface of the circular brooch bears an openwork design of a coiled, ribbon animal in combat with a snake. The head has a pronounced lentoid eye, and an S-shaped lappet on the upper jaw. The creature bites its own body, which is composed of a plain and a beaded band. It has spiral hips; the sharply angled foreleg terminates in a three-toed foot and the hind leg divides into two tendrils. A snake's head with two prominent eyes, seen from above, bites the animal's neck.

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Cite This Work

APA Style

Museum, T. T. o. t. B. (2021, December 20). Urnes Style Disc Brooch. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15043/urnes-style-disc-brooch/

Chicago Style

Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Urnes Style Disc Brooch." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified December 20, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15043/urnes-style-disc-brooch/.

MLA Style

Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Urnes Style Disc Brooch." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 20 Dec 2021. Web. 14 Nov 2024.

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