set with semi-precious stones including garnets and amethysts in high collets emerging from flower head bases, the border consisting of eight alternating pointed and curved forms, the reverse engraved ‘Culgower 1869’.
The jewel was inspired by a bronze Medieval example found in 1868 during the construction of ‘The Duke’s Railway’ on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, in a cutting at Culgower. Financed by George Granville William Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland (1828-1892), this was the section of the Highland train line that extended from Golspie to Helmsdale. According to the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland of 1881-2, the brooch had ‘large and small stalked settings projecting from its surface, many of which are now empty. Those still remaining show different colours of glass or paste’.
Illustrated
See no. 28 (pg 26) in ‘From Function to Fantasy, The Brooch: From 1200 BCE to the contemporary (Wartski, 2025).
An engraving accompanies the text, which illustrates how faithfully the 19th century jeweller followed the original. According to the Archaeological site card index, the brooch was exhibited at the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh on Monday June 14th 1882. The jewel is now preserved in Dunrobin Castle Museum.
Robert Naughten (born in 1831), sometimes also referenced as Naughton, was apprenticed to his father (1786-1857) and bore the same name; Naughten senior had been recorded at the Edinburgh Assay Offce as a ‘Jeweller, Silversmith, and Highland Accoutrement maker’ with premises in Church Street in Inverness. He was succeeded upon his death by his son, who appears to have continued to use the same registered mark. Listed as a jeweller, he sold the business in 1887 to P.G. Wilson (see no.52).
The engraved date of ‘1869’ is a signicant one as it corresponds with the timing of a short-lived but well publicised gold rush in Sutherland. In late 1868, Robert Gilchrist, a native of the county who spent 20 years prospecting for gold in Australia, discovered signicant deposits of gold in Strath Kildonan, especially in Kildonan and Suisgill Burns. News spread quickly, and public interest was sparked thanks to an announcement in the 28th January 1869 edition of the Inverness Courier. Within six months, 600 keen prospectors had descended on the area. The Duke of Sutherland sold licences to prospectors at £1 per month for digging to take place on his land. James Campbell, the schoolmaster at Helmsdale on the Sutherland estate, acted as an intermediary, sourcing gold from the diggers in the burns on behalf of Robert Naughten. Apart from supplying Campbell with various jewellery commissions, Naughten also used such gold to produce a range of pieces that included replicas of local archaeological finds including the Culgower brooch. Other jewellers in Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh crafted pieces from Scottish gold, often inscribing the place of origin on the back to underline its rarity. The Scottish Gold Rush offcially ended at midnight on 30th December 1869, when the Duke of Sutherland withdrew permission for all further licences to be issued, although there would be further attempts by eager prospectors to locate the source of the gold in later years.
The appetite for jewellery composed of Scottish gold included members of the Royal family; James Campbell mentions in correspondence dated 30th November 1869, that Robert Naughten was ‘at present making jewellery of Sutherland gold for the Prince of Wales – and seems to be proud of the order’. By combining the engraved words ‘Culgower’ and ‘1869’, Naughten has identied not only the source of inspiration for the brooch that he has so carefully reproduced, but also the key year of its manufacture.