Dominated by a figure of a naked warrior wearing a Celtic helmet and
carrying a Celtic shield as well a wielding a sword to protect
himself from an attacking dog jumping up at him. this brooch is also
decorated with a few more dogs’ heads snarling and gobbling portions
of the twisted fibula. The brooch is believed to have been created in
the third century BC.
In the days of the Celts. the benefits of specialists. back thenas
well as now. was as obvious as it was perceptible by the senses. The
metalsmith awarded the populace tangible materials such as weapons
and tools for farming As well as decorative items used as enhancement
symbols of status for the wealthy. See this axe. made specially for
me by Benelus Marcan. an unparalleled craftsman to upper crust Celtic
society. I kin chop your head off in one swoop with this tool.
And this, you ask? Hoo-hah! Also by Benelus. It’s a delicate twisted
gold brooch. Very few of us can afford it. I kid you not. Cost quite
a few pretty Biatex too. Took him six months. maybe more. to make it.
He makes my torcs and arm rings too.
It’s been handed down you know. It was once in the collection of the
Royal House of Braganza. and subsequently owned by Fernando II… .
concomitant to Queen Maria of Portugal. Wait wait. Whoa there a
second Nelly. Who knows what a concomitant is? Hmm? A consort you
say? A companion to the regal beagles of the world. Ah well. Yes
then. Bravo. You’re on the mark. so to speak. It later emigrated to
America and was sold to a collector in Chicago and then. after a trek
and a half … ended up being purchased by the British Museum in
2001.
Though the Celts dearly loved their bejeweled objets d’art.
indicating to all their indisputable extremes of devotion to the
civilized world they inhabited while all the while they were little
more than Barbarians on the edge of survival. Look at the Vikings as
an example. one element–I believe–of the Celtic nations.
How this brooch ultimately wended its way to Portugal and then to
America and then to Britain starting in a time when travel by sea
was the only travel available. is a tad astounding. How many children
in the world–I wonder–were born of unmarried liaisons with the
indigens of foreign shores. How many of us inhabiting this planet are
the progeny of those bastards born of those trysts? And of that
distant progeny. how many consider themselves elitists. Sigh. So many
questions. So few answers. Hey! Wait! Wait! I’m an elitist. And I’m
the son of a son of a son of a bastard too. And proud of it. You
betcha. Yeah. Right.
The tales of the brooch of the House of Braganza are vast. Far too
vast for this piddling little issue of Tidbits. There’s more to be
found on the WWW if you so choose.
In the meantime. you know the rest. The visit to the image. also
known as the viewing experience. You know where. Home page.
http://www.tyler-adam.com. Scroll down. Left side. [Tidbits]. Click.
And there for your sensory optic pleasure you will see an image of
the brooch of the House of Braganza.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week.
Benjamin Mark