The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-11-10
Many Lovely Brooches
Can Trace Lineage Back
Ten Centuries B. @.

1.-THE woman who enjoys having
pretty brooches to wear may be in
terested to know that these beauti-
full, dainty things can trace their
lineage away back some ten centuries
before the Christian era. to the hum
BILE safety pin, still existing, although
thought of as a merely unitarian af-
fair and not expected, to be beautiful
or artistic in any way" comments
The Christian Science Monitor, and
pursuing the subject further, says:
Nobody seems to know just where
the safety pin originated, but it is
pretty generally credited to the CEN
trail part of Europe, somewhere
around the year 1000 B. G. In it's first
form, 1t resembled, more than any
thing else, a common pin, bent back
in such a way that the point of it
caught against the head Examples
of these have been found, so we are
told, in Mycenae, Cyprus, the lake
dwellings of Switzerland and in q
few other places.
1t was not long before the people
Of those early days-men and wom-
en- both used these pins-began to
demand something more attractive, a
bit Of artistry along with the mere
utility. The form changed, too, along
with the addition of decorative feat
ures. When the bent pin arrangement
was found to be not altogether salts
factory, a sort of crossbow arrange
ment shaped like the letter T re-
placed it. This is said to have been
extremely we'll developed and popu-
lar during the early part of the
Grecian empire, and also to have
been one Of the first styles in
brooches in England.
The Etruscans, who were active
and energetic in producing beautiful
handcraft, wrought a sort of circular
medallion brooch; this was much
worn in both Greece and Rome, us
ually to fasten the toga or cloak upon
one shoulder. It may be recognized
in much of the old sculpture that has
been preserved to us. BY this time,
the old safety pin idea had practical
ly disappeared and, although these
brooches were still applied to useful
purposes, they became more and
more richly ornamented with enam-
els beautiful stones and jewels, fill
gree work and engraving. They were
made, at first, largely Of bronze, then
later of gold and silver. Many were
fat disks or rings, with long pins
thrust through the center. These
, pins were so attached that they could
4 DC LuEHCu ABOUT anu InuS the DTOOCIl
was really a sort of buckle.
Brooches in the shapes of animals
were also worn much in the early
days Of jewelry; at first, we are told,
the animal forms were attached to
a pin as pendants or bangles; later
they were made the brooch proper,
with the pin fastened to the back.
Beautiful brooches were fashioned
in England during the Anglo Saxon
times; most artistic things they were,
many of them. according to the anti
quarians, of gold adorned with
precious and semi-precious stones.
mother of pearl, also exquisite filigree
work and engraving. The designs
were usually conventional or geome-
trio.
Ireland. too. is famous for brooches,
made chiefly from the seventh to the
tenth centuries, with intricate pat
terms and inscriptions and many
symbolic designs. Silver seems to
have been a favorite medium for the
craftsmen who made this hand
wrought jewelry. Many of these may
be seen today, in the museums and
in homes where they have been hand
ed down for many generations.
Scotland, too. had similar brooches
and many have been preserved for
present-day wear. One can see ex-
actly how they were used in ancient
times, by noticing the garb of the