[ 336 ] 



XYII. 



ON THE MANTJFACTUItE OF A GOLD FIBULA PURCHASED 

 FOR MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. Notes 

 communicated by EDMOND JOHNSON, and W. FRAZER, 

 F.R.C.S.L 



[Read May 9, 1898.] 



This fibula was damaged when sold to tbe Royal Irish Academy by 

 its terminal cups being creased and bent, and one of them separated, 

 and liable to be lost or mislaid, so it was resolved to submit it to Mr. 

 Edmond Johnson, M.R.I. A., to hare it examined, and its dinges 

 removed. This enabled the mode of its construction to be thoroughly 

 investigated, and the results appear deserving of record, clearly 

 showing the means employed by its fabricator. Its bow or arched 

 portion was hollow and found to be filled with clay or sand. It is the 

 first example of a hollow fibula of gold that has been thoroughly 

 investigated by a practical jeweller. 



The bow portion, or central arch of the fibula, was originally in the 

 form of a beaten plate of gold that tapered to a slight extent in shape 

 from its wider centre part towards either end. This plate was made 

 much thinner at its edges than elsewhere, and being hammered and 

 bent round an elongated mould, made possibly of wood or bone, until 

 both edges came together and overlapped, they were united by apply- 

 ing sufficient heat to produce surface fusion of the approximated gold 

 surfaces which converted them into a hollow tube. "When sand or 

 clay was packed tight into such a gold tube it could be bent without 

 difficulty into the curved shape it was intended to take. 



The hollow cup-shaped terminations situated at both ends of the 

 fibula are composed alike of two separated concave plates of thin 

 metallic gold, the outer border of the inner plate being left of greater 

 size was then bent by hammering upon the outer one to which it was 

 closely united in the process, but not joined by fusion of the approxi- 

 mated parts, only closely overlapping it. The raised lines of the con- 

 centric circles forming ridge and furrow ornamentation seen round the 

 outer lips of both plates were produced before putting them together. 



