Stephen Walker has presented his research on medieval Celtic metalwork at the International Insular Art Conferences in York (2011), Galway (2014), and Glasgow (2017). He is co-author of The Modern History of Celtic Jewellery: 1840-1980 and a contributing author to Islands in a Global Context (Four Courts Press, 2017).
Saint Patrick's Day, the biggest party day of the year for Irish Americans, falls during the somber religious season of Lent. Why then is this the season that cow pies would be used to recreate an ancient Celtic treasure? A goofy question, but there is a real answer.
Gathering some "materials" for the project.
I will be traveling to Ireland this spring to meet with curators at the National Museum in Dublin. The quest relates to an experimental project that will reproduce a lost part from the legendary 12th century Cross of Cong. I have been making Celtic crosses as jewelry for my entire career. Usually I make a special effort to create new cross designs during the Lenten season leading up to Easter. This year I will also copy a very old one. It just happens that the timeline for this project falls during Lent.
The Cross of Cong was commissioned by King Turlough O'Connor as a reliquary for a fragment of the True Cross that was brought to Ireland in 1123 A.D.
The missing panel on the Cross of Cong.
The project was suggested by Dr. Griffin Murray, one of Ireland's leading experts on medieval Celtic metalwork. Murray has devoted many years to the study of the Cross of Cong, resulting in a book which is a complete and definitive report on this Celtic masterpiece. One aspect of the cross which Murray did not delve into in any great detail is the method by which the intricate bronze decorative panels on the cross were cast. I intend to duplicate a panel which is missing from the Cross of Cong, but also do it in a way that demonstrates the original craftsman's method.
My theory is that the intricate panels of open interlaced animal designs were cast in molds made of a mixture of clay and cow dung. It seems kind of yucky and unsanitary to our modern sensibilities, but that mixture is a remarkable material with a long history of use from everything from plastering walls to casting metal.
Stephen Walker studying the Cross of Cong at the National Museum of Ireland, January 2016.
If my effort is successful, after Easter I will make the trip to Ireland to compare my facsimile to the original and have it photographed in place. Then I will make another trip to make a presentation to the International Insular Art Conference, a gathering of Celtic art scholars, archaeologists and museum curators, in Glasgow, Scotland in July 2017.
I really love these old Celtic masterpieces and enjoy the opportunity to work on some of the mysteries about how they were made. The curators and art historians that study these things have been wonderfully supportive of my projects. I have been able to establish something of a reputation at some earlier Insular Art conferences by similar presentations of how artistically challenging Celtic metalwork would have been created.
Replicas of the St. Ninian's Isle Brooches, made in 2011.
In 2011 in York, England, I gave a presentation on the St. Ninian's Isle treasure, 8th century silver brooches found in the Shetland Islands, north of Scotland. Studies of these pieces revealed a long lost method of creating a style of interlace known to archaeologists as kerbschnitt. In 2014 I demonstrated a plausible solution to the problem that had long vexed art historians of how the cylindrical kerbschnitt stem of the 8th century Ardagh Chalice was molded and cast. Both of these presentations involved actually making facsimiles of the ancient pieces.
The Ardagh Chalice.
Griffin Murray was instrumental in helping me arrange to have the chalice, one of Ireland's most precious and iconic treasures, removed from the showcase at the National Museum so that I could examine it under a microscope. Last year I visited the museum for a preliminary examination of the Cross of Cong in preparation for the current project.
Stephen Walker has presented his research on medieval Celtic metalwork at International Insular Art Conferences alongside leading scholars, archaeologists, and museum curators. He is co-author of The Modern History of Celtic Jewellery: 1840-1980 and serves on the advisory panel for the George Bain Collection at Groam House Museum, Scotland.
May 11, 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the crash of ValueJet flight 592 that killed 110 passengers and crew in the Everglades near Miami International Airport. The chance discovery of a small gold and gemstone pendant in February 2013 involved Walker Metalsmiths in a bizarre and heart wrenching story that was picked up by scores of major news organizations including the Associated Press, Huffington Post, Fox News, ABC, CBS and many more. (Links at the end of this blog)
Believe it or not our part of the story begins with a snake hunt. Three friends didn’t bag any snakes during the 2013 Python Challenge, but they did make a startling find. While searching the Everglades for invasive Burmese Pythons, Mark Rubinstein spotted a jeweled gold cross with antique rose cut diamonds and sapphires set in high carat gold. The condition of the piece and the location of the find strongly suggest that the antique medallion came to rest in the swamp from as the result of a fatal plane crash. Rubinstein soon. shifted gears in his quest from looking for serpents to trying to locate a surviving relative he can return the jewel to.
The python hunters, Joe Post, Gregg Jobes and Mark Rubinstein.
The find was made in an area that turns out to have been about 300 yards east of the ValuJet crash site (May 11 1996) and in the debris field area of the Eastern Flight 401 (December 29 1972). Both of these tragedies were horrific. An edge of the circular medallion is melted, which would be more consistent with ValueJet crash. The object is a circular medallion the size of a penny that was most probably meant to be worn as a pendant. This is uncertain since the loop or bail that it might have been used to attach it to a chain is apparently melted into a glob of metal.
To begin his search for the owner, Rubinstein contacted Sziro Jewelry in Coral Springs. They confirmed that the piece is indeed gold and that the eight diamonds are “rose cut”, a style of polishing that was common in the 17th to 19th centuries. The design would indicate that there were originally thirteen sapphires arranged in a cross pattern. Donald Dietz of the Florida Goldcoast Gem and Mineral Society then posted photos of the piece were on a prominent jeweler’s online forum, which brought it to our attention.
A cross within a circle is often recognized as a “Celtic” cross. As a Celtic jeweler, I noted that the diamond studded boarder looks very much like the Celtic Tree of Life symbol, but the overall style and design was not consistent with any Celtic jewelers known to me. The style might just as likely be Byzantine. Apparent symbols between the arms of the cross suggest abstract versions of Greek letters, but nothing obvious. I also noted that many pieces of modern Celtic jewelry are deliberately made to have an antique look, so the older style of stone cutting could possibly have been chosen by a more recent jeweler to give the piece an antique look.
Realizing what an interesting story this was, combining giant snakes, mysterious found treasure and horrific disaster, It seemed to me that the best way to help Mark find the owner would be to write a news release and present the story to the media, with the hope that someone with knowledge of the loss would know whose jewelry this was. Soon after the story was posted on PRWeb we began getting calls for interviews from the AP, Good Morning America, CBS News and a number of newspapers and other news outlets. Mark then sent me the pendant so that I could examine and analyze it.
Scientific testing of the pendant at Alfred University
I had the piece tested at the material sciences lab at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Metallurgist Gerry Wynick ran tests with the University’s energy dispersive spectroscopy equipment. The results are that the pendant is 20 karat gold, alloyed with silver and copper. The eight rose cut diamonds are set in platinum bezels. The materials and style suggest that the handmade piece was created between 1880 and 1918.
Dark areas on the melted back of the pendant show that other materials stuck to the semi-molten gold while it was hot. Significantly, titanium is present, which is used extensively in aircraft. Also present in the contaminated area is chromium, iron, calcium and phosphorus. Since the ValuJet crash was a result of a fire, this is strong evidence that the piece is from that disaster.
Symbolic meaning of the pendant
The meaning of the seemingly Greek or Russian letters in the quadrants has been debated and pondered by those investigating the mystery since it first came to light. One letter appeared to be the Greek character phi. This lead to speculation about there being an Eastern Orthodox origin for the piece, rather than it being a Celtic cross. The phi is actually the letters "O" and "I" superimposed in the same space. This was revealed by a man, who prefers to remain anonymous, that saw the pendant in a story in the Saturday June 8 Miami Herald sent the following photo and story by e-mail:
Similar pendant from Cuba
"Some 40 years ago, as a young teen, my mother one day presented me with a very special pendant (please see attached photos). It had been given to her by my father, on the evening which they formally announced their engagement; that was in Cuba, at a party hosted by my great-grandmother in 1945. As the story goes, circa 1900 (on a similar evening and occasion),the pendant was presented by my paternal grandfather to my grandmother, and so on and so forth leading back several generations of my father's family. I believe the one given to me by my mother was a replica of the original, first gifted a few centuries ago by one of my ancestors to his soon-to-be bride.
The pendant found by Mr. Rubinstein, which is pictured alongside Ms. Brecher's article in this morning's The Miami Herald is missing a section which should contains the letter "E". You see, the pendant is composed in such a way as to represent two all-important virtues: God & love. As for God virtue, that obviously is symbolized by the cross; I well understand how the letter "M" may have been interpreted to also have a religious versus romantic connotation… it does not in fact denote the Virgin Mary, but rather, together with the letters etched in the gold work of the other outer quadrants of the cross forms the French "en moi" (e / n / m / oi ), or in English, "in me". The love virtue represented in the pendant is a play on the words: "Crois En Moi" (the French for "cross" in fact being "croix", but pronounced the same), or "believe in me" -- that is, believe in God and believe in love (or more specifically, believe in your future betrothed)."
Despite an amazing amount of publicity the owner of the pendant has not been identified. It is now kept in a safe deposit box in Miami under the stewardship of mark Rubenstein. The mystery of the materials, meaning and tragic circumstances that caused the damage to the pendant have been discovered, however the personal story of the owner remains unknown.
Links to published articles:
CBS Miami UK Daily Mail NBC News Miami Herald USA Today ABC News Associated Press 2016 with video Walker Metalsmiths original news release Fox News Olean Times Herald
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The ancient Celts excelled at metalwork. Archaeology has uncovered amazing artistic jewelry and weapons from the distant past that is proof of the skill, imagination and cultural sophistication of the ancestors of the modern Irish, Scots and Welsh. Many of these objects, such as the famed “Tara” brooch, have become emblems of national identity in the Celtic homelands and badges of ethnic pride among immigrants and their descendants.
In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, Walker Metalsmiths of Andover will present a free exhibit of antique Celtic jewelry at their newly remodeled Main Street showroom. The collection of jewelry on display will include Victorian Celtic Revival examples from both Ireland and Scotland from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.
In the years when Ireland was recovering from the Potato Famine there was a renewed interest in the cultural past of that nation as well as a budding interest in archaeology. The discovery of the splendid early medieval “Tara” brooch in 1850 sparked an enormous enthusiasm for the style of Ireland’s Celtic past. By 1851 Dublin jewelers were crafting reproductions of the “Tara” as well as many other medieval brooches.
Royal Tara Brooch by Waterhouse & Co. Dublin circa 1850
We are pleased to be showing an example of the Tara Brooch manufactured by the Dublin firm of Waterhouse & Co. This reproduction of the 8th century original was named ‘The Royal Tara Brooch’ after Queen Victoria purchased two of them from Waterhouse at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851.
By the time of the Irish uprising of 1916 the Tara brooch had become a national emblem. The reproductions once favored by the British Royal family were then part of the regalia of the rebels. Cumann na mBan the women’s auxiliary of the anti-British Irish Volunteers wore Tara style brooches with their parade uniforms. The exhibit includes a modernized enamel version of the Tara brooch in the colors of the Republican Irish flag that was a badge of Cumann na mBan after the War of Independence.
Also on exhibit is a medal and certificate in Celtic design that was awarded to one of Michael Collin’s men from the Irish War of Independence. William Doran, the father of legendary Hornell, NY radio broadcaster Kevin Doran, fought from 1918 to 1921. The materials are on loan from the Doran family.
On the Scottish side of the exhibit Scotch pebble jewelry is represented. This silver mounted style of agate and semi-precious gem jewelry often followed the shapes and forms of older Celtic and medieval styles and became very popular with the rise of middle class tourism in 19th century Scotland. Kilt accessories, including jeweled knives decorated with Celtic ornament are also on exhibit.
We published a companion book to the exhibit titled The Modern History of Celtic Jewelry. Although I am a modern Celtic jeweler myself this is not a book about my work. It is an account of the several generations that preceded me. The book is co-authored by Tara Kelly, a Trinity College art history scholar and expert on Victorian Celtic jewelry, E. Mairi MacArthur, a Scottish historian who has done extensive research into the careers of Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie, Celtic designers on the Isle of Iona and the Dublin silversmith Aidan Breen who is himself a living bridge between the Celtic Revival of the early 20th century and the present.
The exhibit will remain on display at Walker Metalsmiths for the remainder of the month of March 2016 and remain on view for the Andover Maple Festival April 2.
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Back to the work bench now after a two week tour of the British Isles. We started out in London, Sue and I, with our sons Donald and Stephen, daughter Maggie and her husband Eric. We had a lovely dinner with a medieval Celtic metalwork expert friend who invited us all to her home.
The Walker family from left to right: Sue, Maggie, Eric, Stephen, Steve, and Donald.
The boys spent Saturday at the Chelsea/Everton football match. A great Premier League game that ended in a draw. I spent the weekend at a conference on the Celtic Revival held at the British Museum while the ladies had a leisurely weekend on the town.
The conference was in conjunction with a feature exhibit at the British Museum called “Celts; art and identity," which was well attended by top scholars and researchers. It was a thrill to me that two of the speakers told me that they had read my book, “The Modern History of Celtic Jewellery”. On Monday we went to the British Museum as a family and saw the exhibit and spent most of the day seeing the many incredible displays that are there.
Steve and Sue Walker at The British Museum.
Later in the week we took the train North to Scotland. There had been some snow earlier in the week, so the Borders were especially picturesque. Getting into Glasgow we stayed with our friends the Caldwells. Russell Caldwell is a fine Celtic jeweler, whose work was being sold at the British Museum during the Celts exhibit mentioned above.
Sue Walker with Russel Caldwell.
Thursday we all headed to Edinburgh for the day. I had an appointment with the curator at the national Museum of Scotland to examine an electrotype impression of an 8th century Pictish brooch. This brooch was copied by the museum in 1888, but somehow the private owner managed to lose the original! The plan is to make a copy using the original technique of carving a mold in plaster and casting it in silver. This would serve as a demonstration of how these early Celtic smiths worked. The brooch is known as the Banchory Brooch, after the location it was found in the 19th century. My great-grandfather George Watt was born in Banchory, which is in Aberdeenshire.
Steve Walker examining the Banchory Brooch.
While in Scotland we went to an excellent concert at the Celtic Connections festival. The concert was students and faculty of the Gaelic College on North Uist, Outer Hebrides, singing, playing pipes, fiddles and other instruments.
Maggie and the boys all headed back to the US on the weekend, but not until after we all went to another football match. We saw the Celtics play St. Johnston at Parkhead. (Celtics 3 – Saints 1). Sue and I stayed on for business. We went to a giftware show at the Glasgow SECC and placed a few orders for the shop.
Steve, Sue, Stephen, and Donald Walker at a Celtics game.
The Caldwell’s served us a supper of haggis, neeps and tatties in honor of Rabbie Burns Day, which is an iconic occasion to be in Scotland. But business called and we had to take leave of their fine hospitality and head to Dublin for another trade show and museum visit. 
Steve Walker examining the Cross of Cong.
With only three days and two nights in Dublin we managed to shop for more interesting stock for the shop as well as give the 12th century Cross of Cong a good look over, with a tentative plan to do some experimental reproduction work to discover how the openwork interlace panels might have been crafted. We were very pleased to meet some new craftsmen at the trade fair and also to catch up with old friends. We had a delightful dinner at Captain America with silversmith Aidan Breen and plotted a revival of the Modern History of Celtic Jewelry exhibit for Andover this coming March.
Aidan Breen and Sue Walker eating dinner at Captain America.
It was yet another exciting vacation for the family, as well as a successful trip for our business and scholarly pursuits. It's always so nice to meet up with other Celtic scholars and craftsmen, and the whole family thanks the folks of the British Isles for the warm hospitality extended to us at every stop. We're looking forward to our next trip abroad, but for now we're happy to be home and back to routine.
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By Stephen Walker · June 1997
Before giving birth, legend states, Eithne had a dream that she was given a beautiful cloak of many colors. The cloak stretched out from the shore of her native Ireland north to Scotland. She dreamed that the magnificent cloak was taken from her by a young man and this made her very sad. The man returned in her dream and told her not to grieve because the dream meant that she would give birth to a son who would be renowned for his teaching throughout Scotland and Ireland and she should be joyful.
On Thursday 7 December 521 A.D. in County Donegal the boy was born and named Crimthain meaning 'fox' or 'cunning wolf'. As a young boy he was so fond of prayer that he came to be called Colum Cille (Kol-lum-kill), meaning 'Dove of the Church' or Columba in Latin.
His birth was eighty years after the death of St. Patrick. Colum Cille's family was the Royal House of Uí Néill. The Gaelic Irish had heard the Gospels for several generations by this time. Rome had abandoned Britain for more than a century and the Church in Ireland was evolving in relative isolation as Pagan tribes occupied much of the remainder of the Continent with the decline of the Roman Empire. The missions from Celtic Church were about to shine forth the light of the Gospels to Britain and spread the word of God's love to Northern Europe.
From childhood he was destined for a religious vocation although it is believed that he was by birth a possible successor to the high King of Ireland. Columba entered the monastery of St. Finian at Movilla where he studied theology and the arts of copying and illuminating sacred texts and became a deacon of the church. His love of words led him to also study with the bard Gemman from whom he learned the traditional poetry and ancient traditions of the Gaels. Several hymns and poems composed by Columba survive to this day.
Columba's love of books and his talent with words are still among his most famous attributes. In Ireland and Scotland today it is a popular folk belief that the Book of Kells was penned by the Saint's own hand. The oldest surviving Irish manuscript, a manuscript of Psalms known as the 'Cathach' is plausibly his work. The Book of Kells, a fantastically illuminated copy of the four Gospels, was actually created around 200 years after Columba's death.
A chain of events began when Columba was aged forty that led him to leave Ireland. By this time Columba was a priest and had founded numerous churches and monasteries. He traveled widely and was already an important leader of the Church. These were exciting, optimistic times for a young growing Church. They were however violent times as well and as we shall see. The clergy was no less immune to getting mixed up in political and clan rivalries then than in times since.
The trouble began when Columba secretly made a copy of a book of Psalms, Mosaic Law and the Four Gospels known as St. Martin's Gospel. The book was property of his friend Finian of Movilla. When Finian discovered the copy he angrily demanded the copy be given to him as his rightful property. Columba insisted that the copy did not in any way diminish the original and demanded that High King Diarmid judge legal ownership. The King handed down what may be the first recorded copyright judgment with the words: "To every cow her calf, to every book its copy." and thus upheld Finian's claim against Columba.
There are many legends in Ireland about St. Columba's anger and short temper. Many Irish to this day when cutting peat for fuel will leave a step in the turf bank because of the legend that after falling while crossing one of these banks Columba angrily cursed any peat cutter who would not leave a step so that others could easily cross. Columba's anger went beyond cursing when ownership of the book was judged against him.
In a very un-saintly way Columba rallied his family and friends against the King. Historians are skeptical that the book judgment alone is actually what led to the bloodshed. The factions already had strained relations, but popular tradition puts Columba's rejection of the King's ruling as the cause of the Battle of Cuildrevne. The King was defeated but at the cost of thousands slaughtered.
The King appealed to the Church for Columba's excommunication. A synod was held and Columba's friend Brendan of Birr argued for Columba and his confessor and soul friend St. Molaisse advised as penance he accept lifelong exile from Ireland. A remorseful Columba welcomed this punishment and set sail for Scotland to win as many souls for Christ as had been lost in the battle.
With twelve companions Columba set sail in 563 A.D. to the north and after stopping at Oransay and Islay, where the shores of Ireland were still visible, he landed on the tiny island of Iona at a shore now known as the 'Port of the Coracle'.
Iona and the surrounding islands of the Hebrides were occupied sparsely by the Picts. Other Irish Gaels prior to Columba and known then as the Scots were establishing settlements in southwest Scotland and created a Kingdom called Dalriada in the area now called Argyll. Columba traveled north to Inverness to visit the Pagan Pictish King Brude. He initially did not convert Brude but he did become friends with him. Brude granted Iona to Columba and his monks and gave him safe passage to preach and conduct his mission. Diplomatically Columba also visited the Irish ruler of Dalriada, Conall mac Comgaill, who also granted Iona to Columba.
To the Dalriad Scots Columba was soon to become their local spiritual authority. When King Conall died in 574 Columba was called upon to ordain Áedán as his successor and is thus the first king in Britain to receive the blessing of the Church as a mandate of legitimate rule.
It is to the Picts in the North that Columba found fresh converts to the Faith. Like the pre-Christian Irish, the Picts followed the religion of the Druids. Columba preached, baptized and ordained among them in much the same way that Patrick ministered to the Irish a century before. For many years, before he was superseded by St. Andrew, he was the patron saint of Scotland. From his base on Iona his little band of missionaries branched out and founded churches and monasteries that soon reached to England and beyond.
So influential did the Abbey at Iona become that soon it was a center for Christian education for Ireland as well. The warrior holy man of the Battle of Cuildrevne preached God's love in his new land. His skill as a diplomat and his respected spiritual authority helped lessen the level of warfare in those violent days. The artistic tradition that is exemplified by the Book of Kells spread to England and Europe. The Book of Kells itself may well have been created on Iona to commemorate the 200th anniversary of St. Columba's death or it may have been completed at Kells in Ireland when Viking raids forced the evacuation of Iona to Kells around the year 800.
The story of Saint Columba and the Heron tells how the Saint foresaw the visit of a tired and injured "visitor" from Ireland. He sent one of his monks to the western beach to wait for it and an exhausted heron arrived. The monks fed and cared for the bird until it could travel again. Colum Cille himself was an exile from Ireland, so the lonely visitor from his beloved home was of symbolic significance.
Columba lived to the age of 76 years. Tradition records that he knew that he was soon going to die and that he wanted to leave this world at Eastertide. He reconsidered since he did not want to make the feast a time of mourning for his brethren and waited a little longer. On his last day he was carried to the fields where the monks were working and blessed the crops. An old white horse which had carried the brothers' milk for many years approached him and rested his head on Columba's shoulder and was seen to weep tears. When he returned to his cell the Saint took up his pen and worked at copying Psalm 34 and stopped at the tenth verse, "but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing", and stated that someone else would have to finish it. He died at the altar of his church at the midnight service. His feast day marks his passage to heaven on the 9th of June 597.
The Celtic Church of Columba's day was not as divided as the church was in future generations. The Celtic and British Church was independent of Rome due to its isolation and separate development. The year of Columba's death, 597, was the same year that Augustine was sent by the Pope to bring British Christians under the authority of Rome. Traces of the distinctly Celtic interpretation of the faith that took root in those early days survive in the heritage of the Catholic, the Anglican and the Church of Scotland. The Church of Scotland is of course the progenitor of the Presbyterian Church.
A Christian community has rebuilt the Abbey on Iona and it is once more a center of worship, study and pilgrimage.
Stephen Walker is co-author of The Modern History of Celtic Jewellery: 1840-1980 and serves on the advisory panel for the George Bain Collection at Groam House Museum, Scotland. He has been handcrafting Celtic crosses and jewelry in Andover, NY since 1984.
