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Pastoral Staff Head

ca. 1310-1320 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is an ivory head of a pastoral staff made in about 1310-1320, in France, Paris. It represents the Virgin and Child between two angels on one side and the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John on the other. The carving is of fine quality, the vine leaves precisley delineated and undercut and the figures carefully incorporated into the circular spaces on each side of the volute.

The name crozier is commonly used for the crook-shaped pastoral staff of a bishop or abbot. It forms part of their insignia. It was carried as a symbol of authority and pastoral care. It was made of various materials , but by the twelfth century ivory was in widespread use for the head of the crozier. The shaft was often made of wood, occasionally embellished with metal knops, although on Italian Gothic examples, ivory and bone cylinders were used in construction. French Gothic ivory crozier heads are predominantly of one design, with the Crucifixion and the Virgin and St John on one side and the Virgin and Child , flanked by candle-bearing angels, on the other. It appears that the principal face was that to be seen when the volute of the crozier was facing to the right.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Ivory carved in high relief and openwork
Brief description
Head of a crozier, ivory, representing the Virgin and Child and Crucifixion, France (Paris), ca. 1310-1320
Physical description
Head of a pastoral staff. On one side, the Virgin and Child between two angels, on the other, the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John. The pierced volute is carved with vine leaves and contains on one side the Crucifixion, with Christ on the cross between the Virgin and St John the Evangelist, who both stand on foliate consoles growing out from the inside of the volute. On the other side, carved back-to-back with the Crucifixion, is the seated Virgin, holding the stem of a flower in her right hand and supporting the Christ-Child with her left; he wears a long tunic and holds a small apple in his left hand. The Virgin and Child are flanked by two standing angels holding candlesticks (with no candle) who, like the Virgin and St John on the other side, stand on foliate consoles.
Dimensions
  • Height: 13cm
  • Width: 11cm
Style
Object history
Purchased from John Webb, London, in 1871 (£120); on loan to the Museum from 1867.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is an ivory head of a pastoral staff made in about 1310-1320, in France, Paris. It represents the Virgin and Child between two angels on one side and the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John on the other. The carving is of fine quality, the vine leaves precisley delineated and undercut and the figures carefully incorporated into the circular spaces on each side of the volute.

The name crozier is commonly used for the crook-shaped pastoral staff of a bishop or abbot. It forms part of their insignia. It was carried as a symbol of authority and pastoral care. It was made of various materials , but by the twelfth century ivory was in widespread use for the head of the crozier. The shaft was often made of wood, occasionally embellished with metal knops, although on Italian Gothic examples, ivory and bone cylinders were used in construction. French Gothic ivory crozier heads are predominantly of one design, with the Crucifixion and the Virgin and St John on one side and the Virgin and Child , flanked by candle-bearing angels, on the other. It appears that the principal face was that to be seen when the volute of the crozier was facing to the right.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1870, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 30
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929, Part II, p. 33
  • Stollberg-Rilinger, B., Puhle M., Götzmann, J., Althoff. G. (eds.). Spektakel der Macht. Rituale im Alten Europa 800-1800. (Spectacle of Power. Rituals in Old Europe 800-1800). WBG (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft), Darmstadt, 2008, pp. 88, 89
  • Maskell, W., A Description of the Ivories Ancient and Medieval in the South Kensington Museum, London, 1872 p. 128
  • Koechlin, R., Les Ivoires gothiques français, 3 vols, Paris, 1924 (reprinted Paris 1968) I, pp. 271, 274; II, cat. no. 754; III, pl. CXXV
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014 part 1, pp. 418-419
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, part 1, pp. 418-419, cat. no. 146
Collection
Accession number
365-1871

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Record createdSeptember 5, 2008
Record URL
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