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.