The Holderness Cross

Anglo-Saxon

Ashmolean Museum

7th Century

The cross has equal rectangular arms with rounded corners and cloisonne cellwork. There is a sheet-metal suspension loop at the top. The cell-work is filled with shaped garnets of which about two thirds survive in place. At the centre of the cross is a boss formed by a large cabochon garnet, whose face is incised with a deep circle, probably formerly inlaid with gold. The cross may have been made in Anglia.

• Medium: gold with garnet inlay
• Dimensions: 5 x 5 cm
• Art Fund Grant: £49547 ( Total: £69,548)
• ArtFunded in: 1999
• Vendor: Sam Fogg

Provenance

Found in Burton Pidsea on the Holderness Peninsula, East Yorkshire; Bonham's 1999; present vendor

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