Narwhal tusk, carved, England, ca. 1125-1150

The tusk is carved on the lower half with four straight bands of foliate scrolls. Two contain repeating naked human figures in identical poses, with their left arms raised to grasp the tails of the alternating beasts above them, also of identical form. The other two alternate with the first type and contain alternating quadrupeds and serpent-tailed dragons, likewise of repeating type. The four spiral bands of the upper half of the tusk are filled with leaf-scrolls and blossom designs alternating with quadrupeds and dragons amongst foliate stems.

There are numerous pin-holes, many still containing the remains of copper pins, at regular intervals on the plain surfaces between the carved bands; these may have held gilt-copper strips, and extensive traces of green staining confirm their original precence. The plain area of about 5 cm in height about half way up the shaft was probably also covered with a metal band: there is green staining but there are no pin-holes. The tusk is broken at the top and now lacks half its circumference to 15 cm below the tip, but it does not appear to have been any longer originally as the smooth return of the top surface is still extant on one side.

At the bottom of the shaft the carved surfaces have been shaved away to a height of about 4.5 cm. This indicates that the tusk was either once mounted on a metal foot or encased in a metal sheath for attaching to a separately made lower section, and part of the base has been damaged and abraded on one side. The tusk has been broken in two places and repaired, the work disguised with painted fills. The shaft is hollow but the cavity is blocked 37 cm from the bottom by a perspex dowel, inserted during conservation work in 1991, at the top by an older wooden dowel (see report in Sculpture Conservation Department)

Purchased with funds from the Capt. H. B. Murray Bequest

Purchased from T.C. Cutt, London, Camden Town, in 1936 (£100). Nothing is known of the earlier provenance of the tusk; it was said at the time of acquisition 'to have come some years ago from the Summer Palace at Pekin', but there is no factual evidence to support this claim.

Until 1958 it seemed that the present narwhal tusk was the only medieval example to have carved decoration, but in that year a further piece came to light which allowed a reassessment of the function of the V&A tusk. This second example was brought to the museum in 1958 by its owner, a resident of Worcester whose daugther later recounted that it had been 'purchased for £12 among a bundle of walking sticks ... at the sale of the contents of a house in the Cathedral Close at Hereford in 1957' (see Important European Sculpture 1994, p. 22). The tusk was photographed while at the museum, was then removed by the owner and only resurfaced in 1994, when it was sold at Christie's and finally acquired by National Museums & Galleries at Merseyside (National Museums Liverpool, mus. no 1995.42).

It is likely that the two tusks were carved in the same workshop. They share the same dimensions; the decoration, while different in detail, is technically identical, and they are a similar dark brown colour. Both tusks were once embellished with gilt-copper strips, now removed, and have an uncarved area near the middle of the shaft, probably once covered with a metal band or knop, which must have been made to facilitate handling.

When the V&A acquired its narwhal tusk in 1936, it was thought to be 'Renish or Belgian work of the second half of the 12th century', but subsequently, scholars attributed the London and Liverpool tusks to an English workshop active in the years around 1120-40, with the exact place of production still remaining elusive. The tusks' provenance suggests an English origin and the closest stylistic parallels are with English sculpture and manuscript illumination of the second quarter of the twelfth century (for a detailed discussion, see Williamson 2010, p. 385).

Important for the question of the two tusks' original function is the uncarved area at the top of the Liverpool tusk, which has been left plain and must likewise have been covered with a metal fitting. It is possible that the latter was a copper sleeve topped by a drip-pan with pricket, and it is likely that both the V&A and Liverpool tusks functioned as grand processional candlesticks, possibly even as a pair. The physical evidence for this use is supported by the imagery of the shaft, illustrations in medieval manuscripts and paintings, and by later reflections on the type, albeit in a different material (for examples, see Williamson 2010, pp. 384-85).

This narwhal tusk is one of only two known medieval examples with an elaborate carved decoration of foliage, naked human figures, quadrupeds and serpent-tailed dragons. Numerous pin-holes on the plain surfaces between the carved bands and extensive green traces suggest that the tusk may once have been mounted with gilt-copper strips, and it may once also have had a band or knop about half way up the shaft, to facilitate handling. The tusk was probably carved in an English workshop active in the second quarter of the twelfth century, as the its carvings have close stylistic parallels in English sculpture and manuscript illumination. It is possible that the tusk was originally used as a processional candlestick.

A.79-1936