Sir John Evans Centenary Project - image background is marbled paper from one of John Evans's books John Evans Numismatic Society Medal 1899

Sir John Evans's Collections of Artefacts

 

Anglo-Saxon Ixworth Cross

Country of Origin: Britain

Description: Jewelled pendant made of gold originally entirely covered by garnets backed with hatched foils.

Dimensions: 4.5cm length x 3.8cm width

Object Period: Anglo-Saxon

Provenance: Ixworth, Suffolk

Museum Accession No.: AN1909.453

Aquisition History: Found in 1856. Acquired by Joseph Warren and then in 1866, by Sir John Evans. Presented to the Ashmolean by Sir Arthur Evans in 1909.

Other Information: The precise execution and symmetry of the compartments of the cloisonn‚ work is highly sophisticated. That the design has been thought through quite carefully is also apparent from the change of colour tone of the garnets, which tend to be darker towards the centre. The small size of the cells may indicate reuse of old garnets, an established seventh-century practice in Anglo-Saxon jewellery.