National Museum of Ireland

Silver Cone

12.07.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

I’ve been following the Irish Times series ‘A history of Ireland in 100 Objects’

Every Saturday Fintan O’ Toole writes about an object, giving an insight into different periods of Irish history.

He adopts three main rules when selecting each item.

An “object” is defined as a single man-made entity, a definition that excludes buildings. The objects are generally presented chronologically. And unless there is an overwhelming reason to the contrary, the objects themselves are accessible to readers in public institutions or spaces’.

The series started in February with a Mesolithic fish trap and brought us up to iconic pieces such as the Tara Brooch and Ardagh chalice in Spetember.

While there have been many great objects discussed I chose to write about this silver cone. Firstly because it is so beautifully made and also to give me the opportunity to pick apart the techniques used to make such an intricate piece.

By now you will know that when I look at an item of silver (or any metal really) I analyse the way it was made and dissect each process and technique. I’m hoping it’s something most makers do and not just a weird trait that I’ve developed!. I love trying to figure out how an item was made and seeing how the techniques used affect the aesthetic. Some of my favourite pieces are the ones which still baffle me.

This silver cone dates from the 10th century and is made from woven silver thread. O’ Toole describes it beautifully when he says

It sits in the palm of the hand as lightly as a confection of spun sugar

It gives a sense of the delicacy of the piece. The cone is woven from three separate strands of silver each of which is made up of between 15 -18 extremely fine wires. The effect is amazing with hundreds of wires appearing to seamlessly make up this three dimensional form. Researchers in the National Museum found a residue of some sort of organic material inside the cone which they believe to be a wax. This wax would have acted as a support on which the woven design would have been created.

When you consider the hours it would have taken to create such an item it comes as a surprise to find it was one of 18. The hoard was found in a cave in Dunmore just north of Kilkenny city. A length of silver wire was also found which seems to have been attached to the cones. They also discovered a tiny piece of fine silk which suggests that this was a very ornate dress with a silver wire border and the silver cones acted as tassels or perhaps buttons. The silk was one of the most exciting finds as it was more valuable than all the silver ornaments put together. It was dyed either red or purple (making it even more expensive) and most probably came from the Byzantine empire or the Arab world.

When I read about the hoard and the function of the silver cone it not only made me appreciate fully the beauty of the object but also made me question the wearer. As O’ Toole puts it

Who this woman was is as mysterious as the presence of this extraordinary example of Viking power-dressing in Co Kilkenny. All we know is that someone had a dress worth a king’s ransom, shoved it in a crack in a cave in a moment of panic and never got to come back for it.

Safe Secrets: The Story of the Coggalbeg Hoard

10.24.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

Many of you may have read the story of a gold Early Bronze Age collar which was found in a skip after the robbery of a Co. Roscomon pharmacy.

Apparently when Sheehans pharmacy in Strokestown Co. Roscommon was robbed the burglars turned out the contents of the safe into a skip after taking the money and valuables of interest to them. What they didn’t realise was that buried in the papers was a priceless gold torc.

Following the robbery the Sheehan family told gardaí that the safe contained three items of gold jewellery. The detectives established that the papers from the safe had been dumped in a skip nearby. Because of the flat, thin nature of these gold pieces (weighing only 78 grams in total) they went unnoticed by the robbers. After trawling through the skip the gardaí found the crescent shaped collar and two small gold discs.

It transpires that these items had been kept in the Sheehan’s safe since 1947. The hoard was originally found by Hubert Lannon when he was cutting turf in his bog at Coggalbeg, Co. Roscommon. It was discovered when investigating the provenance of the hoard that Mr Lannon had died at age 93 just three weeks before the robbery in March 2009. His family were able to confirm that he had found the gold in his bog and had given it to Mr Sheehan the Strokestown chemist.

Once the gold had been recovered it was sent to the National Museum of Ireland to be cataloged and dated. This hoard is extremely important as it contains the first pair of discs to be found since the nineteenth century. The find is also important as it represents the first recorded association of a lunula and gold discs. This is very significant for archaeologists as they study the period in which collars and discs would be worn.

Last week the Coggalbeg hoard went on display in the Museum of Country Life in Turlough Park, Castlebar. This amazing find will remain there for all to see until June 2012.

What a strange set of circumstances resulted in this hoard finding its way into public view. How many other treasures are buried in safes and under beds around the country?!

Silversmith Shopkeeper

04.06.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This month I am in the process of setting up an online shop. It’s my first time doing something like this online so it’s been a steep learning curve!

As you might have guessed I’ll be stocking my shop with jewellery but I had to make a decision about what style of jewellery I wanted to make and sell online. I had a look at what was out there and saw a gap in the market for good quality Irish silver jewellery. Many of the websites I found were selling poor quality mass produced celtic jewellery that probably never set foot in Ireland! What I wanted to offer was a good quality alternative that would be designed, made and hallmarked in Ireland. I wanted to be able to provide a service whereby someone could order a piece of Irish silver jewellery and know the piece was specifically made for them in Ireland by an Irish silversmith (me!).

Rather than concentrate on the mass produced ‘Irish’ designs I began looking at our rich Irish heritage of art and design and where better to go than the National Museum on Kildare Street, Dublin. I came away with lots of ideas but I just had to figure out on how to capture the beauty of the pieces I had seen.

Once I had chosen some of my favourite artifacts from the National Museum I also researched Irish celtic knot work. With all this material I began designing the range of silver jewellery. I am going to concentrate on mens jewellery for the moment. This is mainly because I love making cufflinks but also because it’s so difficult to find anything really nice for men in the line of jewellery.

I plan on launching the website with a small core range, many of which can be altered to suit the buyer. I designed an ogham collection which has Irish words such as grá (love) engraved in ogham but this ogham could just as easily read any word that the buyer choses. I also have a range of family crest and coat of arms jewellery but done in a contemporary acid etched style.

For me the easy part was designing and making the work the stress started when I had to go about setting up the shop. I had no idea where to start. It’s amazing how much you take for granted when you look at a website and complete a transaction online. Thankfully I found shopify. This is a great website that hosts your online shop for a monthly fee so you don’t have to worry about getting someone to build the website for you. As the operator of the shop I am able to upload photos, add prices and descriptions as well as write a blog. It’s also very easy to manage and edit your products. While there are certain things I would like to do differently shopify is a great start to take the stress out of setting up an online shop.

It’s still a work in progress I have lots of tidying up to do like change the look and colours of the website and add some artwork. I also have lots more products to finish and photograph. As soon as its ready I’ll post a link here.

Eileen Gray

03.31.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

While today’s post has nothing to do with silver. I decided a story about a piece of furniture by an Irish designer called Eileen selling for €1.3 million was worthy of some attention!

The Eileen I’m a referring to is Irish born designer Eileen Gray (1878- 1976), who is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in modern design. The piece (above) which sold in Paris yesterday was a black lacquered screen panel and was one of her pieces from her Paris apartment. This screen was made between 1923-25 and is one of fifteen items of Gray’s which are up for auction this week.

This isn’t the first time that Gray’s work has fetched record prices in auction. In 2009 her ‘Dragons’ armchair sold in Paris for an very impressive €21.9 million, making it the worlds most expensive chair. Also setting an auction record for 20th century decorative art.This price may be due in part to it’s previous owner Yves Saint Laurent.

Eileen Gray was born in Enniscorthy Co. Wexford where she lived until she moved to London to attend Slade School of Fine Art. She was one of the first women to be admitted to the Art College. In 1902 she moved to Paris where she continued her studies. It was in Paris that she met Seizo Sugawara a Japanese lacquer master. She worked with him for four years developing her skills in lacquer work. She didn’t exhibit her lacquer pieces until much later but when she did they were a success. This work quickly established Gray as one of the leading designers of lacquered screens and decorative panels.

Throughout the 20’s and 30’s she was seen as one of the leading figures in modern design and worked closely with many of the famous designers in the modern movement including Le Corbusier. She did not limit herself to lacquer design but also began designing furniture and houses. Her most famous architectural work is E-1027 which she designed as her summer house but also to showcase her modern aesthetic and furniture.

Gray may only make headlines these days for the prices her work sells for but her influence is still everywhere. Her tubular steel adjustable table pops up in TV programs and magazines displaying a modern interiors. This says a lot for her forward thinking approach to design considering this table was made in the 1920’s.

If you want to see more of Eileen Gray’s beautiful work as well as examples of her lacquering tools and family photos you should go along to the National Museum in Collins Barracks, Dublin. In 2002 the museum purchased her archive and they now have a permanent exhibition which chronicles her career. It’s great to have such an amazing resource kept in the country. I’d definitely recommend a visit and while you’re there you should take a look at their collection of Irish silver.

The Ballymacasey Cross

02.02.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

A few weeks ago I wrote about my visit to the National Museum on Kildare Street Dublin. At the time I was trying to find out more about a processional cross that was found near Ballylongford, Co. Kerry. I presumed that once a piece makes it into the musuem it has reached celebrity status and so would have lots written on it’s history.

I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to find out anything about this cross. I have a great book on the treasures of the museum, but it just gives a brief history of when it was made and who commissioned the piece. Apart from that there was nothing, both the library and google let me down.

Ballymacasey Cross, Dated 1479 Co. Kerry

I did find a reference to the cross in ‘The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland’ but typically I couldn’t get hold of the book except in an archive library in the city. I reckoned I’d need some proof that I was studying the piece to get into their archives. I’m not sure they would see idle curiosity as a good enough reason to let me flick through a 19th century journal!

Thankfully my search didn’t end there. The good people at Harvard University had a copy and they had been kind enough to scan the whole journal and put it up on the American Libraries website for all to see. The journal is a collection of essays by its members on various artifacts and historical documents. It was so interesting to see how archaeology was conducted in Ireland in the 1800’s. The chapter on the cross was written by George J. Hewson. He just happened to be passing through Ballylongford on his was to Ballybunion and spotted the cross which was in the possession of its finder John Jeffcott. In 1871 the cross was found in a number of pieces when Jeffcott was ploughing. Hewson writes that it took him a long time to get back to Ballylongford to properly inspect the cross it being “a very out of the way spot”. Having grown up 8 miles from there, of course I have to disagree, but maybe things were different back then.

It was easy enough to trace the origins of the cross as it had been engraved with the details of the maker and the recipients. It turns out the cross was commissioned by Cornelius O’ Connor and his wife Avlina (or Eileen!) as a gift to the Lislaughtin Friary, Ballylongford in 1479. It might be slight vanity but the search was completely justified when I discovered my name was engraved on the cross.

Ballymacasey cross, Journal Royal Historical & Archaeological Association

The cross which is silver gilt is 67cm in height and considered one of the finest crosses from medieval Ireland. It has the figure of Christ in the centre surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists. The symbol at the centre of the cross is missing, leaving just a winged lion, a winged bull and an eagle. The entire cross is decorated with an open work border (the leaf -like trim). It has an amazing amount of intricate detail and it’s hard to believe it has survived so well. The engraving is entwined with images of birds, animals and flowers which would not be typically Irish.

Engraved detail, Journal Royal Historical & Archaeological Association

The funny thing about this cross is that it remained in the home of Mr Jefcott in Ballylongford rather than being handed over to be put on public display. I love the idea of a 2 foot gold ornate cross lying around his house. Where would you put something like that?! In Hewson’s article he writes that “the finder does not appear disposed to consent to part with it to anyone on any terms” It seems Hewson argued the case that although it was well looked after it would be much more secure in the national collection. He believed it would be worthy of a place alongside the Cross of Cong. Which coincidently was also commissioned by an O’ Connor.

I couldn’t find out when the cross finally left Ballylongford and went on public display in Dublin. If anyone has any more information, please do let me know.