Why Were Brooches Historically So Popular in Great Britain?

A luxury brooch is very much a statement piece, and so many variations, designs and traditions have emerged around such a simple, bold concept.

The first brooches have existed for well over 3000 years, and are known to have been made in Great Britain for at least 2600 years, half a millennium before the conquest of the nation by the Roman Empire.

This begs the question of why brooches became so popular compared to other jewellery forms that were dominant in the rest of the ancient world.

The reason is a matter of simplicity, versatility and necessity.

The simplest part of the explanation is that countries in Northern Europe, Britain included, needed the brooch as a fastener for heavy clothes such as tunics as well as to more securely fasten thicker cloaks to the body during cold wintry days.

As well as this, early fibulae brooches were relatively simple to make and cast in one piece out of either iron or copper alloy, and simplicity made it more widely accessible to a broad group of people in society. 

However, the simplicity and functionality also mean that there is a wide scope to design around that functionality and create beautiful, more elaborate brooches that use exotic casting techniques, add purely decorative features or add exotic materials.

Evidence of this exists as far back as 400 BC, over three centuries before the Romans conquered Britain and brought their brooches with them. Celtic brooches from that era have coral inlays and red enamel.

However, whilst the concept was widespread and very popular in Britain before Rome, the invasion helped to shape the designs of brooches from that point on, including the development of the penannular brooch, a type of ring brooch that became so popular and common that they are often somewhat erroneously described as a “Celtic” brooch.

Similar Posts