THE SMALLS SWORD GUARD: DISCOVERY, SIGNIFICANCE AND EXPERIMENTAL REPLICATION OF A HIBERNO-URNES MASTERPIECE

Abstract

One of the finest examples of secular Hiberno-Urnes art from England and Wales was discovered by a diver on the offshore reef known as The Smalls (Welsh Gwales), Pembrokeshire, in the Irish Sea. The guard was probably made in Ireland about ad 1100–25 in a distinctive Hiberno-Scandinavian decorative style and technique with niello and silver inlays, and it illustrates the skills of a master craftsman or saer working for secular and ecclesiastical patrons. The findspot is now designated as historic wreck site under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1976 (no. 38).