An Anglo-Saxon Cruet

Extract

The small metal cruet (pl. LXXI) that is the subject of this communication was acquired by the British Museum as part of the collection of Sir Wollaston Franks, and all that is otherwise known of its history is that it had previously been in the collection of Lord Londesborough and is engraved in Fairholt's Miscellanea Graphica of 1857. It is a cire-perdue bronze casting in one piece, afterwards covered with a wash of copper and a coat of gilding, and it stands 7·2 cm. high without its lid, which is missing. It is a remarkable piece, chiefly because of the most unusual ornament on the body of the vessel which consists of two rows of identical symmetrical decorative units in relief in the form of a pair of birds in a foliate spray. It will be noticed that these birds are, so to speak, ‘locked’ into the foliage by their wings, and it will also be noticed that they are biting upwards at the leaves with a curiously emphatic gesture of the back-thrown head and gaping bill. The units of decoration are quite distinct; but they are set close enough together to give the effect of a rich and crowded surface-ornament; and it will be seen that the spaces between their tapering upper portions are filled by small lion-masks. Over the spout there is a variation in the character of the ornament, for here we have a single downward-biting bird standing on a thin foliate branch; so we see that the designer was able to adapt and modify the stereotyped pattern that so much attracted him; and there is no doubt that he was a craftsman of considerable humour and skill. He has turned the spout itself into a lion's head, not by modelling but by the use of incised lines, and he has cunningly employed spiral curves to suggest the shoulders of the beast. The simple scroll on the foot does not call for comment; but the handle should be noticed. It is in the form of a serpent issuing from an animal-mouth on the hinge of the cruet, and its quaint curly end is a most striking feature that adds considerably to the ragged, lumpy prettiness of this charming little vessel.