Product Description
Eige is Scots-Gaelic meaning "notch" and the older historical spelling for Eigg Island in Scotland's Inner Hebrides. Eigg was purchased by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust in 1997. The trust is a community ownership and another stakeholder, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, manages the island as a nature reserve. It has about 100 full time residents and is famous for its self-sufficient renewable energy grid.
The Eige Penannular features terminals (ends) with stylized double thistles. Without the pin, it measures about 1 1/2 inches wide and long. The mixed metal version has your choice of yellow of rose gold for the thistle ends and the pin top.
About Penannular brooches: The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, is a type of clothes fastener. They are especially associated with the beginning of the Early Medieval period in Ireland and Britain. Beginning as utilitarian fasteners in the Iron Age and Roman period, they are especially associated with the highly ornate brooches produced in precious metal for the elites of Ireland and Scotland from about 700 to 900. Penannular brooches feature a long pin attached by its head to a ring. The pin can move freely around the ring as far as the terminals, which are close together. The penannular brooch is a simple and efficient way of fastening loosely woven cloth (where the pin will not leave a permanent hole).
