Early Celtic art in the British Isles.

Early Celtic art in the British Isles. E.M. JOPE JOPE Java Object Persistence Extensions . Early Celtic art Celtic art(kĕl`tĭk, sĕl`–). The earliest clearly Celtic style in art was developed in S Germany and E France by tribal artisans of the mid- to late 5th cent. B.C. in the British Isles British Isles:see Great Britain; Ireland. (2 volumes).xviii+395 pages, 11 figures; xii+320 plates. 2000. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press; hardback 0-19-924298-4 (text) 0-19-924297-6 (plates)0-19-817318-0 (set) 250 [pounds sterling]. There is a long publishing history of those who would attempt tosurvey the indigenous art of Iron Age Britain & Ireland. The storystarts with Alien (1904) and Leeds (1933), followed by Fox's verypersonal but visually acute and now unjustly neglected volume (1958) andthe even more idiosyncratic id��i��o��syn��cra��sy?n. pl. id��i��o��syn��cra��sies1. A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.2. A physiological or temperamental peculiarity.3. Killbride-Jones (1980). Shorter recentintroductions include those by Megaw & Megaw (1986) and Stread[1985], while mere have been a couple of important regional studies(Spratling 1972; MacGregor 1976). At times, the,, present weighty volumehas seemed like a mirage, as elusive as the art Martyn Jope studied forso long. Jope had accepted with alacrity a��lac��ri��ty?n.1. Cheerful willingness; eagerness.2. Speed or quickness; celerity.[Latin alacrit Paul Jacobsthal's invitationin 1953 to join him in producing Early Celtic art in the British Isles(ECABI; Jope 1986), a project foreshadowed already in Jacobsthal'sEarly Celtic art (ECA ECASee: Export Credit Agency ; 1944: see especially p.v). Jope took over thetask from his mentor on the latter's death in 1957 but, alas, hisown death in 1996 robbed him of the chance finally to see ECABI throughthe press. In a typically terse `Preface', Ian Stead, who was theeye in the middle of the ECABI storm, sums up the history of thiselephantine Elephantine(ĕl'əfăntī`nē), island, SE Egypt, in the Nile below the First Cataract, near Aswan. In ancient times it was a military post guarding the southern frontier of Egypt. publishing labour thus: `Essentially ECABI is a work of twoperiods: the main text about 1972 and the Annotated List about1990'. No less than ECA, ECABI is not an easy book to read, let alone use.Three features, products of the last decade of gestation, immeasurablyassist the reader: first the `Annotated List' which is a very greatdeal more than that; it is, in fact, a catalogue raisonne ca��ta��logue rai��son��n��?n. pl. ca��ta��logues rai��son��n��sA publication listing titles of articles or literary works, especially the contents of an exhibition, along with related descriptive or critical material. which explainsthe ever-expanding number of illustrated objects, many of which, as Jopecontinued to add to their number right up to final proof, are notreferred to even briefly in the main text; second, a very full index ofplaces (unascribed) and, third, a valiant if not perfect attempt tosupply a bibliography, the work of Richard Ivens. Other late featuresinclude a usefully annotated `Chronological Chart' and a series ofdistribution maps for which an added commentary appears as `Appendix3' but which, as is so frequently the case, are of limited use inthe absence of any actual identification of sites. In the Illustrationvolume more than 800 objects, twice the number included in ECA, appeareither as photographs or rather `cleaned up' line drawings.Over-mechanical drawings were a feature of Jacobsthal's ECA incontrast to the much more personal and `interpretive' illustrationsby Fox or Killbride-Jones. Also a feature borrowed from ECA is the`Anatomy of insular early Celtic ornament', some 421`patterns' whose P-numbers follow on directly from those of ECA andwhich is described on pp. 333-48 of the text volume -- all the moreinexplicable that the half-tone illustrations and the supportingAnnotated List do not also follow the object enumeration 1. (mathematics) enumeration - A bijection with the natural numbers; a counted set.Compare well-ordered.2. (programming) enumeration - enumerated type. whichJacobsthal introduced for ECA. Let us revert to the main text of ECABI and see what is -- and whatis not -- contained therein. The living nightmare which attacks allthose concerned to produce `complete' listings of material, the wayin which the never-to-be attained complete corpus seems to attackone's very corporeal Possessing a physical nature; having an objective, tangible existence; being capable of perception by touch and sight.Under Common Law, corporeal hereditaments are physical objects encompassed in land, including the land itself and any tangible object on it, that can be remains, is well known. If ECABI seems to havesuffered particularly from the inability to say `no more' it is byno means alone as we ourselves must testify. To quote Stead again,`Unfortunately [the period between 1960-90] was a time of many new andsignificant discoveries' -- many of which are the result ofStead's own researches. The main text begins where it might better have ended -- with theChronological Chart and attendant commentary which is not without itssurprises; while previous work leads one to expect a 5th-centurybeginning for insular brooch-making following Continental patterns, theearly dates given for the Thames series of daggers cannot be entirelysubstantiated, particularly for that from Hammersmith in the Museum ofLondon The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Palaeolithic to the present day. The museum is located in a 1970s building close to the Barbican Centre, approximately 10 minutes' walk north of St Paul's Cathedral and admission is free. with its curvilinear curvilineara line appearing as a curve; nonlinear.curvilinear regressionsee curvilinear regression. openwork sheath plate (plate 25b-f) whichcould just as well be compared with provincial Roman pieces from theContinent of five centuries later. Equally, the openwork disc from theDanebury hill-fort (plate 31g) while looking like a Continental La Tene La T��ne?adj.Of or relating to a late Iron Age Celtic civilization dating from the fifth to the first century b.c. A harness-mount is neither in size nor in its lay-out close enough to bean actual import. Indeed, we remain remarkably poorly off not well off; not rich.See also: Poorly for definiteIron Age imports of any date. With regard to Italic -- or presumedItalic--imports it has been shown that even such pieces as thewell-known bronze figures from Aust-on-Severn and Blandford (plates6-7); while some may at least be early Etruscan -- not Iberian asJacobsthal thought of the Co. Sligo figure -- none have secure claims asgenuine imports (Rigby et al. 1995). On the other hand, those of us whoused to stick out for a date no earlier than the 2nd century for thepresumed earliest of the shield series were certainly wrong; a beginningaround 300 BC is certainly reasonable if indeed not on the late sidewith new pieces such as the Ratcliffe-on-Soar shield mount (plate 68;Watkin et al. 1996) and the still largely unpublished finds from theriverside workshop at Fiskerton on the Witham (Stead 1996: illustrations22 & 24) supporting that insular link with Jacobsthal'sWaldalgesheim `style' which seemed elusive for so long. The casthinged bronze bracelet from the Newnham Croft burial (plates 40-43),however, combines `vegetal' elements with insular cross-hatchingjust as the Standlake scabbard plates (plates 48-49 -- we cannot resistlaying claim to some of our better photographs) also incorporate atypically sinuous sinuous/sin��u��ous/ (sin��u-us) bending in and out; winding. sinuousbending in and out; winding. `vegetal' motif with other elements not generallythought to be earlier than the later 3rd century. On this, and theoft-discussed matter of the ultimate derivation of the decoratedsword-scabbards from northeastern Yorkshire and Northern Ireland, it isa great pity that Jope seemingly could not avail himself of more recentwritings on Continental regional sword styles so important for `theimmergence of Insular Celtic art' as Jope titles his third chapter(see Szabo & Petres 1992; Raftery 1994a; Lejars 1994). Here onecould see just how late 'vegetal' elements can be on theContinent as well as in Insular contexts. Indeed, it has to be said thatJope does not seem to have been as aware of the relevant Continentalliterature as one might have expected of a scholar of his stature, eventhough at least in footnotes one may find references as recent as 1995. Moving to the main chapters of ECABI, the `Introduction' dealssuccinctly with matters of scope, definition and chronology, though thelatter exhibits its own chronological problems in that it has clearlybeen prepared long before the Chronological Chart. There is no referencehere or elsewhere to the cur cura derogatory term for a mongrel dog. rent fashion for removing the word`Celt' and `Celtic' from any discussion of Insular Iron Agematters. On the other hand, Jope clearly signals what he sees to be thereal nature of Insular Iron Age art (p. 9): `... ornament at first largely a transient visual experience,becomes more than a mere incidental decorative art, feeling towards asymbol of expression, worked up with allusive al��lu��sive?adj.Containing or characterized by indirect references: an allusive speech.al��lu imagery and able to evokecalculated impressions and responses in the beholder, a coherentlanguage for ideas not always so simple or naive...' This parallels our own view of Celtic art (Megaw & Megaw 1989:19). Following an examination of early (i.e. later Hallstatt) imports --or presumed imports -- chapter 3 is concerned with establishing aContinental La Tene pedigree, a topic we have already touched on, withan emphasis on what Jope terms the development of `the nuances of pliantcurving line' marked, for example, by the fragmentary bronzescabbard from Wisbech and the Cerrig-y-Drudion crown fragments (plates28-29), the latter with its echoes -- surely not more -- of theunprovenanced bronze flagon in Besancon. Chapter 4 looks mainly at theshield series which marks the first full flowering of Insular Iron Ageart. Here, though Jope sees more Hellenistic influence than we do, heplaces the entire series from Ratcliffe-on-Soar to Battersea into a 3rdto late 2nd century bracket; despite Stead's prior argument for thelatter being much earlier -- indeed possibly 4th century BC -- thisseems a wholly reasonable evolutionary series. Included here iscommentary on the stone now located at Turoe House, Co. Galway (plates104-5). Here, as elsewhere in ECABI, Jope adds little to Raftery'sprior surveys of the Irish Iron Age (see Raftery 1994b); the cataloguenotes comment more clearly than the main text on the affinity with1st-century southern British material -- mirror backs and harness mounts-- supporting a similar date for the stone, a point made by ManselSpratling many years ago. With chapter 5, we move to the mainly East Anglian early1st-century BC gold rings of the `Snettisham-Ipswich' class. Here,though Stead's (1991) interim account of the discoveries atSnettisham appears in the Bibliography, there is only a brief referenceto this in the main text (p. 91, n. 104; plates 110-25). The claim of a3rd-century commencement for the Snettisham goldwork goldwork,ornaments, jewelry, and vessels created from gold. Such works have figured in almost every stage of civilization as symbols of wealth and power.The Ancient WorldThe earliest-known fine goldwork is from Ur in Mesopotamia. Dating from c. is debateable andthe tendency to look for master-smiths is once again indulged in --elsewhere, Jope unrepentantly raises the ghost of the Waldalgesheimmaster, now well and truly laid to rest with the demonstration that thefine metalwok at the type-site was the product of at least three hands(Joachim 1995 -- in the Bibliography but again not seemingly used byJope). Contra Jope's tentative suggestion that the two rings fromFrasnes-lez-Buissenal might be British, there is a recent paper whichpersuasively argues on technical grounds that the plainer tubular torcssuch as those from Snettisham Hoard A (plate 112) are in factContinental products and not the other way round (Hauteneuve 1999). Chapter 6 is given to imagery, both animal and vegetable, and to anexamination of how such imagery becomes translated into pattern, whilechapter 7 looks further at distinct classes of material, notingparticularly how from the later 1st century AD, one may observe whatJape terms `the interplay between Celtic and Romanizing spirit'.This offers a chance to review again possible evidence for imports andexports (pp. 135-7); here Jape is more cautious than we would be. To thePolish bronze bowl from Leg Piekarski (plate 169), the Paillartquadrilobe enamelled mount (Leman-Delerive 1986) and the Nijmegen mirror(plate 255) may now be added a decorated linch-pin from Hainault(Demarez & Leman-Delerive in press). With the somewhat later exampleof the dragonesque brooches (plate 198) in mind, there should be nosurprise at evidence for the export from Britain of the products ofskilled bronzesmiths and enamellers. Mirrors and harness fittings andchariot-mounts all get thorough treatment -- as does coinage, one of therare occasions where coins get due consideration in a survey of otherforms of Iron Age fine metalwork. Only `the potter's art'(plates 316-17) appears as something of a shoe-in. With chapters 8-10, Jape attempts, through a thorough analysis offormal ornament, to follow the lead given in ECA chapter 3. Here he isestablishing new `ways of seeing' and in so doing borrows, as manyothers have, from John Berger. Chapter 9 examines the somewhat patchyevidence for crafts practice while, in the brief and concluding chapter10, we come full circle with a definition of the character of insularCeltic art. Throughout this complex work, it is hardly surprising that Jape,trained as he was in the life sciences, puts great emphasis ondescription, on teasing out the syntax of his material, but he goesbeyond mere artistic taxonomy. Jacobsthal (1941: 318) at the end of hisSir John Rhys Lecture, a partial sketch for the big picture which was tobe ECA, commented: `Analysis of the "Celtic Soul" is not the concern of anarchaeologist: his humble task is to describe what is visible andclearly expressed in stone, bronze, or clay.' Nearly half-a-century later, Jape (1987: 120), also giving the SirJohn Rhys Lecture, returned to molecular biology molecular biology,scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weaver, then director of the natural sciences program at the Rockefeller and considered thepossibility of biological determinants mapping out for us what is`Celtic' in Celtic art. While in ECAB ECAB Electronic Current Awareness BibliographyECAB Employee~s Compensation Appeals Board (Office of Workers Compensation Programs)ECAB Echelons Corps And Below ! he has largely left suchmusings on one side, in the final chapter he presents his ownword-picture of the soul of Insular Celtic art, the key words being`rational', `orderly', `whimsical', `humanizing' and`urbane'. He concludes (p. 223) that the art of the Insular Celts `does reveal the quality of mind, the leisure, the fastidious fas��tid��i��ousadj.1. Possessing or displaying careful, meticulous attention to detail.2. Difficult to please; exacting.3. Having complex nutritional requirements. Used of microorganisms. taste... for ... introspective in��tro��spect?intr.v. in��tro��spect��ed, in��tro��spect��ing, in��tro��spectsTo engage in introspection.[Latin intr ingenuities ... only to be comprehended byrefined and imaginative minds, in repose, cool and self-possessed.' With so entwined a publishing pre- and protohistory pro��to��his��to��ry?n.The study of a culture just before the time of its earliest recorded history.pro , with so manyhands attempting to bring this Celtic stew to a final boiling-point, itis hardly surprising that there are inevitably a large number of minorerrors, including misascriptions and incorrect photo credits. Is this,then, a book that one should consult and -- if one can afford it -- buy?Well, the answer is quite simple; the sentence just quoted says much ofthe man who wrote it; whether Jope's characterization of InsularCeltic art will be shared by all hardly matters. The material is nowbefore us for all to read, analyse, support or refute. For all itsidiosyncrasies and a literally too insular approach, ECABI will be whatECA is for the Continent -- the essential starting-point for any seriousstudy in the field. In 1947, Christopher Hawkes (1947: 198) concluded acharacteristically idiosyncratic and insightful review of ECA with thewords: `This is a wonderful book. It is nearly a great book'. Onecan do no better than to conclude that with ECABI we have indeed awonderful and nearly great book. References ALLEN, J.R. 1904. Celtic art in pagan and early Christian times.London: Methuen. DEMAREZ, L. & G. LEMAN-DELERIVE. In press. A linch-pin ofBritish type found at Blicquy (Hainault, Belgium), Antiquaries Journal81. Fox, C. 1958. Pattern and purpose: A survey of early Celtic art inBritain. Cardiff: National Museum of Wales. HAUTENEUVE, H. 1999. Les torques tubulaires de Snettisham:importation continentale au production insulaire? Lun ula: Archaeologiaprotohistorica (Bruxelles) 7: 89-100. HAWKES, C. 1947. Review of Jacobsthal (1944), Journal of RomanStudies 37: 191-8. JACOBSTHAL, P.E. 1941. Imagery in early Celtic art, Proceedings ofthe British Academy 27:301-20 1944. Early Celtic art. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Reprinted withcorrections 1969.) JOACHIM. H.-E. et al. 1995. Waldalgesheim: Das Grab einer Furstin =Kataloge des Rheinischen Landesmuseums Bonn 3. Bonn: Rheinland-Verlag. JOPE, E.M. 1986. Paul Ferdinand Jacobsthal, in D.E. Evans, J.G.Griffith & E.M. Jape (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh InternationalCongress of Celtic Studies: 15-18. Oxford: Oxbow. 1987. Celtic art: Expressiveness and communication through 2500years, Proceedings of the British Academy 73: 97-124. KILBRIDE-JONES, H.E. 1980. Celtic craftsmanship in bronze. London:Croom Helm. LEEDS, E.T..1933. Celtic ornament in the British Isles down to AD700. Oxford: Clarendon Press. LEJARS, T. 1994. Gournay III: Les fourreaux d'epee: Lesanctuaire de Gournay-sur-Aronde et l'armement des Celtes de laTene moyenne. Paris: Errance. LEMAN-DELERIVE, G. 1986. Une plaque emaillee celtique decouverte aPaillart (Oise), Gallia 44: 29-53. MACGREGOR, M. 1976. Early Celtic art in North Britain: A study ofdecorative metalwork from the third century BC to the third century AD.Leicester: Leicester University Press. MEGAW, R. & V. 1986. Early Celtic art in Britain and Ireland.Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. (Revised edition 1994.) 1989. Celtic art from its beginnings to the Book of Kells Book of Kells:see Ceanannus Mór. Book of KellsIlluminated manuscript version of the four Gospels, c. late 8th–early 9th century. . London:Thames & Hudson (Revised edition 2001.) RAFTERY, B. 1994a. Reflections on the Irish scabbard style, in C.Dobiat (ed.) Festschrift fest��schrift?n. pl. fest��schrif��ten or fest��schriftsA volume of learned articles or essays by colleagues and admirers, serving as a tribute or memorial especially to a scholar. fur Otto-Herman Frey zum 65. Geburtstag =Marburger Studien zur Vor- und Fruhgeschichte 16: 475-92. Marburg:Hitzeroth. 1994b. Pagan Celtic Ireland: The enigma of the Irish Iron Age.London: Thames & Hudson. RIGBY, V., J. SWADLING & M, COWELL. 1995. The BlandfordForum-group: are any Etruscan figures true finds from Great Britain andEire?. in J. Swadling, S. Walker & P. Roberts (ed.), Italy inEurope: economic relations 700 BC-AD 50: 107--30. London: BritishMuseum. British Museum Occasional Paper 97. SPRATLING, M.G. 1972. Southern British decorated bronzes of thelate pre-Roman Iron Age. Unpublished Ph.D thesis, University of London For most practical purposes, ranging from admission of students to negotiating funding from the government, the 19 constituent colleges are treated as individual universities. Within the university federation they are known as Recognised Bodies . STEAD, I.M. 1985. Celtic art in Britain before the Roman Conquest.London: British Museum Press. (2nd edition 1996.) 1991. The Snettishamtreasure: Excavations in 1990, Antiquity 65: 447-65. SZABO, M. & E.F. PETRES. 1992. Decorated weapons of the La TeneIron Age in the Carpathian Basin = Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 5.Budapest: Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum. WATKIN, J., I.M. STEAD, D. HOOK & S. PALMER. 1996. A decoratedshield-boss from the River Trent, near Ratcliffe-on-Soar, AntiquariesJournal 76: 17-30. RUTH & VINCENT MEGAW(*) (*) Department of Archaeology, Flinders university, GPO Box 2100,South Australia 5001, Australia. Vincent.negaw@flinders.edu.au