Cruciform finial from the tomb of Bishop Aquablanca at Hereford Cathedral. 19th century plaster cast after 13th century Anglo Norman original.

Cruciform finial , springing from a boss of foliage and carved with curling foliage with a flower

This finial is from the Tomb of Bishop Peter of Aquablanca, in the north transept of Hereford Cathedral. In Bishop Aquablanca's will, dated 26 November, 1268, he requested to be buried here, and he expressed some preference for his tomb decorations. Bishop Aquablanca, having visited Rome, Sienna, Toledo, Lyon, and Naples on the business of Henry III, would have been familiar with contemporary European tomb sculpture.

In the last decade of the 19th century and in the first decade of the 20th century, enthusiasm towards acquiring new plaster casts and electrotypes for the V&A waned. A Report of the Committee of Re-Arrangement, produced by the Board of Education in July 1908, had a section entitled 'The Question of Casts'. In this report, proposals to expand the cast collection to include examples of the development of British architecture were rejected. However, a large donation of casts from sculpture and architecture in British churches and cathedrals was received from the Royal Architectural Museum of the Architectural Association in 1916. This museum had been founded in 1851 by a group of architectural professionals lead by George Gilbert Scott, and by the 1870s included over 4500 casts from English church portals, tombs, and windows. Many of these casts were assembled by John Ruskin (1819-1900) and William Burges (1827-1881), respectively. In the early 20th century, the pedagogical focus of the teachers at the Association changed from Gothic to classicising, and the Royal Architectural collections were deemed to be no longer of use for students. The premises of the Royal Architectural Association Museum were sold in 1917, and the casts were donated to the V&A.

19th century plaster cast after 13th century Anglo-Norman original

This cruciform finial is from the Tomb of Bishop Aquablanca, in the north transept of Hereford Cathedral.

REPRO.A.1916-849