Frankish Bow Brooch Replica

Franconian bow brooch of the Merovingian period.

This replica of an early medieval bow brooch is a detailed copy of a Frankish find from the Merovingian Era dating to 500 - 550 AD.

Bow brooches of this type are called five-button brooches. The original, which served as a model for this replica, can be found in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg. Link to the original brooch...

During the Early Middle Ages, bow brooches were mainly worn by West Germanic women and were very common in the Alemannic, Frankish and Thuringian regions during the Merovingian period.

Such bow fibulae were part of the four-fibula costume, which was typical for the garments of the Merovingian period among the West Germanic peoples and consisted of two larger bow fibulae in the lower part of the garment and two smaller S-fibulae in the upper part.

The bow fibulae were worn in pairs near the waist to close the garment.

Dimensions of the Franconian bow brooch: 8.2 x 5 cm.
The needle is 5 cm long.

The original five-button brooch replica was originally inlaid with carnelian, we have used red glass flux for this.

We offer this bow brooch in high-quality bronze and in real silver plated.

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In the early Middle Ages, bow brooches were an important part of Germanic women's costumes and, starting from the East Germanic settlement area, also became fashionable in the West Germanic region from the second half of the 5th century onwards.

Five-knob brooches can be traced throughout the Germanic region in the 5th and 6th centuries. They gradually disappeared from the inventory of Germanic graves at the transition from the 6th to the 7th century, where they were replaced by the disc brooch.