Archaeological replicas

The Braganza brooch

In 2016 we obtained permission from the British Museum of London to make a replica of this magnificent piece.

We knew that it would not be easy, not only because of its great complexity, but because we had to combine the long process with our own daily work.

Although some details remain to be improved, which we will do in the future, we believe that the current state in which it is, can already be officially presented. For the realization of this piece, we have had a great guide, a book that details the entire manufacturing process, techniques, and all the structural complexity of the fibula, as well as dozens of high-quality images.

The writer of this fascinating book "The Braganza brooch" is Alicia Perea, with whom we had the pleasure of chatting several times about the fibula. Dr. Alicia Perea is currently an independent researcher and consultant in antique jewelry under the title of Au Project. From 1993 to 2018 she held the position of Scientific Researcher in the Department of Prehistory, CCHS-CSIC, Madrid, and was Head of the MicroLab (Laboratory for Electronic Microscopy and Microanalysis). His book helped us, through scientific study, to get into the skin of the craftsman himself who made the piece.

The original craftsman faced many difficulties in obtaining the fibula, the piece has a large number of structures and the difficulty was added that it could not weigh too much to avoid losing its functionality. The techniques and processes used were wax modeling and subsequent use of the lost wax technique for the manufacture of all structures, tools such as a chisel or punch for more detailed work.

In our case we have used the goldsmith technique, which are basically the techniques we work with on a daily basis, and on the other hand, we wanted to use 3d modeling, not only to speed up the process a bit, but also because we found it interesting to mix techniques old with the most current.

For this we have had the collaboration of Manuel Herrera, 3D modeler of the company Dicien 3D.

Until then we show you our work, which does not end here, since we are already underway to carry out the hypothetical reconstruction of what the original fibula would look like, and which is perfectly illustrated in Alica Perea's book.

We want to contribute to the realization of this replica, in the dissemination not only of the fibula itself, but of the importance of culture, heritage and knowledge of the authentic, leading us to the origins of Greek goldsmithing, so present in this fabulous piece.

We hope you like it as much as we liked creating it ;)