Browse Items (378 total)

2009CA7127_jpg_l. This is an Anglo-Saxon comb probably made in the 8th - 9th century. This comb is in bone with a single row of teeth, the top arched and terminating in recurved dragon heads. On each side are pierced bone plates incised with circles…

2007BM3753_jpg_l. The ornate and colourful decoration on this brooch consists of cloisons (cells) inlaid with garnets and blue glass paste. The front is further enriched with filigree wires. The garnets themselves were possibly obtained by sea trade…

2007BM3751_jpg_l. The Milton Jewel is one of the finest examples of Anglo-Saxon brooches of the period, with a sophisticated design carried out in a combination of materials. The use of cloisons inlaid with garnet, filigree knot work decoration on…

2006AD1299_jpg_l. This is a head of an Anglo-Saxon tau cross in walrus ivory. The tau cross is a form of crozier head, named for its shape after the Greek letter T. The winged seraph is a reference to the vision of Isaiah in which singed seraphim…

2006AD3413_jpg_l. This handle of a knife or dagger was made in Anglo-Saxon England, probably in the 10th to the 11th century. It is carved in bone and decorated with pierced scrolls and animals. All these images are © V&A Images/Victoria and Albert…

The delicately carved archer on the lid of this cross probably represents a figure from the Old Testament: Ishmael, son of Abraham. The reverse shows the Lamb of God surrounded by the four symbols of the evangelists. The cross originally formed a…

2008BT1996_jpg_l. In contrast to the rich garnet-set jewellery of the earlier Anglo-Saxon period, finger rings of the ninth century are rarely adorned with precious stones. The skills of the goldsmith are seen in this example, where the different…

2006BC6621_jpg_l and 2006BC6622_jpg_l. The cross is one of the rare surviving pieces which give substance to descriptions in contemporary documentary sources of the sumptuous church furnishings of pre-Conquest England. The enamels are unique in…

Introduction
The Ruthwell Cross stands in a small church in the town of Ruthwell, just south of Dumfries, in south-west Scotland. The Cross is seventeen feet four inches tall and must sit in a well four feet deep to serve as the high cross for the…

Mercian sculpture at Breedon.