How to Make Viking Age Brooches

A large amount of metalwork was mass produced in the Viking Age, in particular, Women's brooches. The brooches were worn as part of women's clothing to fasten an overdress or apron and are found in archaeological excavations all across the Viking world, demonstrating how popular an item they were.

Fastening a Viking Age brooch to an overdress (source: www.metaldetectingworld.com)

There were many methods of mass producing these items, but the most usual way of making them was using a clay mould from a common master. These moulds were one use as the clay mould had to be broken before the brooch could be removed and finished by hand. The process of making a brooch from a master is illustrated here (picture source: Graham-Campbell, J. ed., 1994, Cultural Atlas of the Viking World):

1, A master mould impressed with an old brooch is used to cast a new wax model. 2,The wax model is covered in clay and 3, the wax is melted and poured out, then wax pegs fitted for the pin fittings. 4, A piece of wax impregnated cloth is pressed into the mould to determine the thickness of the final brooch. 5, Clay is built up over the cloth to create the rear of the brooch. 6, The mould is heated to melt the wax and the cloth removed to leave the final mould which is sealed ready for use. 7, Molten metal is poured into the mould and allowed to cool, then 8, the clay mould is broken open to reveal the brooch, 9, which is finished by hand, with the addition of the pins.

A reconstructed Viking woman's outfit, showing the Brooches (source: http://www.shelaghlewins.com)

With the ease of mass production, there is no wonder they are so often found in the graves of Viking women and hopefully this blog post may give you inspiration to try making your own! Let us know how you get on if you try it.

Thanks for reading and please have a look at our wide ranging catalogue here: https://www.norsefury.com