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 This collection is derived from a small lead disc found on the Brough of Birsay in Orkney. The Brough, a small tidal island, supported a thriving metalworking industry from the 7th to the late 8th century. A rich array of brooches, rings and dresspins were found; jewellery for the prosperous Pictish community on the Orkney mainland. The trumpet sprial devices derives from the vine scrolls on classical Greek pottery, a technique adopted by the Celtic tribes who came in contact with the classical world in the centuries before Christ. Such spirals became a prominent feature of La tene art and passed into the repertoire of British art of the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries.
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