Browse Items (16 total)

2009CB5776_jpg_l. Boxes like this are known to have been kept in cathedral treasuries. They were probably used as containers for the host (the consecrated bread) and the material reflects their important function. The unique narrative images at the…

2009CA7155_jpg_l. Pectoral crosses were worn on a chain or cord around the neck, and acted as charms to protect the wearer. The pectoral cross was commonly worn by bishops and abbots in the medieval period. The figure style and the particular…

2006AM6059_jpg_l. This panel representing the Crucifixion was probably made in the late 10th century or early 11th century in England. The representation of the Crucifixion with Longinus and Stephaton alone, without the Virgin and St. John, as on…

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…

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…

2009CA7152_jpg_l. The Virgin is shown seated on a rainbow like arc within a mandorla. In her right hand she holds a sceptre in the form of a branch, in her left a book, and she supports the Christ Child on her lap. The zigzagging line of the Virgin's…

AN00013974_001_l. Walrus ivory sub-rectangular plaque, broken away along the right-hand edge. Eight attachment holes survive along the edges. The surface is highly polished, and carved in high relief with a crucifixion group. Christ in a loincloth…

AN00789233_001_l. Whale-bone rectangular panel from a writing-tablet recessed at the back and with two holes for thongs: one corner is broken away. On the front is a quadripartite knot design incised in low relief within a square frame and set with a…