Featured Some antiques, anyone? Merovingian treasures.

Sometimes we just want to see something antique, don't we? At times like that I tend to delve pretty deep into history, especially to look at jewellery and other precious goodies of course.
Today it was Merovingian, named after a Frankish dynasty ca 400-700 AD.

I came across this Dutch Merovingian beauty (as you do), and wanted to share it with you:


The capital of the Merovingian kingdom was in present-day Belgium, but it covered a considerable chunk of Continental Europe.


More Dutch Merovingian goodies:



Don't know where this one was found, but I wouldn't mind if I stumbled upon it while doing a spot of gardening:


And a bit of fun, even though it is a gravestone, front and back, found in Germany. The smiling little guy on the left is combing his hair. It looks like he is waving at us.

 

What would the stones be on the 1st pedant Aj, garnets ?

 

Yes, Bohemian garnet cabochons. They also used garnets and garnet glass for much of the cloisonné and champlevé.

 

Makes you wonder how they shaped the bits of garnet so exactly and then found a glue that works for a thousand years.

 

Shaping with files, probably. Glue could be natural resin with some other goo mixed in.

Exact shapes in the 5th century sword hilt of king Childeric:

 

So beautiful! Don't know a thing about it, but I wouldn't mind finding that jewelry casket/box myself!! Thanks for sharing.

 

I'm trying to understand the second picture. A mass of different pieces or an assemblage in one pin?

 

A mass of different pieces, a hoard found in Rhenen, not far from Arnhem, the Netherlands.

 

Ah now I understand, these are all from around the Netherlands. I love stuff like this. Thank you.

 

Many pieces in the Rhenen hoard are fibulae, cloak pins.

Like these, easier to distinguish from the pile once you know the shape:

 

Gorgeous!

 

WOAHHH! I'm a huge fan of these garnet tapestries
These old times technics were stunning!

 

The two pieces are astonishing in the simplicity of shape and then the red nose cabochons and silver. Gives me goosebumps.

 

No files or glue used,probably shaped with wood sticks and abrasive slurry.The stones are "burnish" set much like a bezel or channel set stone. There is quite a bit of information from the British museum with their research of the Staffordshire hoard.

 

I just found some info on a Dutch site. They already had diamond tipped tools, which the Romans had also used. Apparently the Roman diamond tipped tools were traded as far as China.

 

Ditto, when I saw Merovingian I couldn't click fast enough.

Under appreciated and understood, thx.

 

Love the gravestones especially the one on the left.
Dyslexic moment, I meant the one on the right!

 

When you search for the period on international sites, you find England, but no mention of the Continent.

 

The tools had crushed diamonds less than the size of fine sand embedded into them,many people today still make their own diamond embedded tools with a copper or steel base for the tool. link to diamond tool history http://trishjax.tripod.com/id23.htm

 

Perfect for fine cutting, grinding and 'sanding', I think.