Browse Items (16 total)

Objects from the Ashmolean 'Anglo-Saxon Discovery' exhibition, 2005:

Alfred Jewel 1, Alfred Jewel back, Alfred Jewel rear, Alfred Jewel Side 1, Alfred Jewel Side 2, Disc Brooch, Bead string G27 Wheatley, Bead string G27 close-up 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,…

Working as a volunteer in Winchester City Museum has given me the opportunity to record treasures that might be missed on a quick visit — like this tiny 76 mm by 48 mm carved walrus ivory panel. It was possibly made to embellish a keyhole at the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…