Jewelry, North and South
Hello, dear friends! I’m sorry it has taken me so long to post. I was in Cambridge from Thursday-Sunday, and Monday was a busy day. And bright and early Tuesday morning we met for discussion, a brief trip to the Yorkshire museum, and then we got on the train to London. Yesterday we were discussing devotional jewelry–wearable objects that either served to aid one’s private devotion, or that were thought to function like amulets, providing protection.
At the Yorkshire museum we looked at the Middleham jewel, a gorgeous pendant that was found in 1985 near Middleham Castle. The pendant is set with an enormous sapphire, and it is etched all over in incredible detail. The front depicts the crucifixion with an image of the lamb of God underneath the cross; the back depicts the nativity, and the sides show tiny images of fifteen saints. The back panel slides out to expose a small cavity, which could have contained an amulet or relic. What remains was doubtlessly part of a much larger setting; we can see holes around the sides where other pieces of metal were attached. because of the sapphire, and the depiction of the nativity (which would have been worn against the chest), there is some speculation that the necklace would have been thought to help women who were pregnant or in labor.
So here’s the really cool part: we got to hold the jewel!! It’s currently valued at £2.5 million, and they just took it out of the case and handed it around. We were with James Robinson, who is the former curator of medieval collections at the British museum, the current curator at the Museum of Scotland, and who evaluated the Middleham jewel when it was first found. So we had an in–but it was still amazing to hold it! We also got to see a boar badge that was most likely worn by one of Richard III’s retainers or supporters–a white boar was Richard’s symbol–as well as a gold ring that displays one of Henry IV’s mottos and may have been a gift from him to a supporter.
Steve and I holding the front and back of the Middleham jewel.
In London, we went straight to the British Museum, which I have never visited. It is an amazing space! There was no way I could get a good shot of the rotunda, but I stole the one below from the web. We went down in the basement, where you can see how the museum staff documents and stores the thousands of objects that are not on display. We got to see another pendant like the Middleham jewel, etched with a compartment, and several other pendants that haves religious functions. We also saw a lead agnus dei container which was possibly meant to be worn. An ‘agnus dei’ was a wax tablet made from the drippings of the paschal candle, which was (and still is!) lit during the Easter vigil and burns throughout the whole season of Eastertide. (These candles are typically huge.) The wax was made into discs and imprinted with an image of a lamb. Bishops and even the pope gave these discs out, and they were often ought to have protective powers. The BM’s agnus dei container is one of the only surviving containers that still has remains of the wax tablet inside.
What the basement of the BM looks like!
The wax remains of an agnus dei.
The outside of the agnus dei container.
We were then let loose in the BM for a few hours. After a cup of coffee and a brief rest, I had a nice long visit with the antiquities collection. I did not realize that the museum has a great deal of the remaining statuary from the Parthenon! And from the mausoleum at Halicarnassus (one of the seven wonders of the world)! I wanted to take stroll around the the whole museum, just to get a sense of the building’s size and the breadth of the collections, but I ran out of time before they closed. I also got William a roman legionnaire rubber ducky and a toy bus of the london double decker variety. We had a lovely dinner at a Turkish restaurant, and then Jen and I were off to Canterbury. More on Canterbury and Dover tomorrow…