Griffin Fibula

Description This fibula, shaped like a griffin, a mythical creature half lion and half eagle, is decorated with twisted gold filigree wires and has a red stone or glass inlay for an eye. It was one of a pair crafted in a workshop in northern France. Originally these paired brooches were worn by women, one on either side of the chest. Its mate belongs to the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. Similar griffin fibulae have been found in late 6th-century Frankish graves.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
4/19/1984	Treatment	cleaned

Exhibitions

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947.
• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Objects of Adornment: Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. 1984-1987.
• Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1987.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters