Bow Fibulae
- Artist Culture
- Merovingian, c.450–751
- Date
- 6th century
- possibly made in
- Germany, Europe
France, Europe - Classification
- Jewelry & personal accessories, metalwork
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- each: 3 1/2 x 2 in. (8.9 x 5.1 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 57-58:1949
NOTES
A fibula is a type of brooch or pin that was used to hold garments in place. It performed the sorts of functions that buttons do today. Most art that survives from early medieval artisans is small scale and portable, a result of the inclusion of small precious objects in burial sites. Merovingian artists were particularly gifted at decorating jewelry and metalwork; these pins show the accomplished presentation of designs based on geometric forms.
Provenance
by 1947 - 1949
Brummer Gallery, Inc. (Joseph Brummer, d.1947), New York, NY [1]
1949 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased through R. Stora & Company, New York, at the sale of the Joseph Brummer Collection, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, April 20-23, 1949, lot no. 225 [2]
Notes:
This bow fibula is one of a pair that share the same provenance (accession numbers 57:1949, 58:1949).
[1] The pair of bow fibulas are listed as being lent by the Brummer Gallery for a 1947 exhibtion at the Walters Art Gallery ["Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art." Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1947, cat. no. 838, p. 163].
[2] According to the auction catalogue both fibulas were in the estate of the Joseph Brummer Collection ["The Notable Collection Belonging to the Estate of the Late Joseph Brummer, Part 1," Parke-Bernet Galleries, April 20-23, 1949, lot no. 225, pgs. 53-54]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, May 12, 1949.
Brummer Gallery, Inc. (Joseph Brummer, d.1947), New York, NY [1]
1949 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased through R. Stora & Company, New York, at the sale of the Joseph Brummer Collection, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, April 20-23, 1949, lot no. 225 [2]
Notes:
This bow fibula is one of a pair that share the same provenance (accession numbers 57:1949, 58:1949).
[1] The pair of bow fibulas are listed as being lent by the Brummer Gallery for a 1947 exhibtion at the Walters Art Gallery ["Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art." Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1947, cat. no. 838, p. 163].
[2] According to the auction catalogue both fibulas were in the estate of the Joseph Brummer Collection ["The Notable Collection Belonging to the Estate of the Late Joseph Brummer, Part 1," Parke-Bernet Galleries, April 20-23, 1949, lot no. 225, pgs. 53-54]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, May 12, 1949.