6th century Frankish-Merovingian Brooch Set – Art as Service – Cailleach Dhe ingen Chiarain

East Kingdom Wiki: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/index.php?title=Cailleach_Dh%C3%A9_ingen_Chiar%C3%A1in

​​Inspired by the casting work of another SCAdian, I fell in love with a 6^th Century Merovingian whorl brooch that I found on Pinterest. This has led me down a path of learning sculpting, pewter casting, and A&S research for the SCA during these crazy times.  This display is a culmination of two separate projects:  6^th C. Merovingian Quatrefoil Whorl Brooch, and 6^th C. Merovingian Wheel Brooch.  

As noted in each project’s own original blog post on my website, I fell down a research rabbit hole and wanted to learn as much as possible both about the casting process, and the Merovingian era.  As part of this Merovingian exploration, I am creating an ensemble of proposed clothing that a Lady would have worn in that time and place, which will include a Wheel brooch found near Paris (Met), and a quatrefoil Whorl brooch per a grave find in Bréban, Marne, France (MerovingianDynasty). 

I will be attempting to create the bow brooches from the Bréban grave as a future project.  Unfortunately, there is not much in the way of extent clothing from this era, so much will be conjecture based on a woman buried at the Barbares Grave 12, or that of Arnegunde, a Merovingian Queen.  This ambitious culmination of information will be displayed in full once completed.

While I recognize that how I created these brooches is not period, it continues to be a great learning experience, a way to delve into history, and a way that I can further my Art as Service to our Kingdom. 

Full A&S documentation can be found here:

https://kldriscoll.wixsite.com/cailleachdhe/a-sdisplay2021