Cleveland Museum of Art

Brooch in the Form of a Six-Pointed Star

Date

late 700s-early 800s

Medium

gold with repoussé and filigree decoration; copper backplate

Culture

Frankish, early Carolingian, late 8th century - early 9th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Women used brooches like this to fasten their veils beneath the chin. Its rare form--a hexagram--suggests that it also functioned as a talisman or amulet to attract good luck and to ward off evil. Look carefully at this brooch and notice a small animal, perhaps a dragon, camouflaged amid the swirling whirls of gold.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.