Ivory Swan
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Anglo Saxon Ixworth Cross Pendant
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This detailed replica of an Anglo-Saxon cloisonné pendant was made after the Ixworth Cross, which dates back to the English Merovingian period. The Ixworth Cross was found in 1856 in the English town of Ixworth, Suffolk, next to a disc brooch in an early medieval tomb and was completely decorated with cloisonné of red garnets applied to a gold waffle base that shimmered through the gems.
The Anglo-Saxon cross dates from the 7th century and was probably made at the same time as the famous Sutton Hoo jewellery. The precise workmanship and symmetry of the cloisonné work was very sophisticated, and the colour of the garnets was chosen so that it became darker towards the centre.
The Ixworth Cross is now owned by the Ashmolan Museum in Oxford.
The Ixworth cross once belonged to a distinguished figure in Anglo-Saxon society. The cross pendant was made of pure gold and originally completely covered with garnets backed with a crosshatched foil.
The pendant was found in 1856 at Ixworth, Suffolk, three miles south of Cambridge in a burial vault in a field. It was located alongside two contemporaneous other graves with female burials near a settlement consisting of a 12-metre wooden hall and at least half a dozen other buildings with extensive semi-subterranean storage cellars. The burial was only 16 years old and probably belonged to one of the newly Christianized Anglo-Saxon royal families of the time. The grave contained a precious cross pendant as well as a disc brooch set with precious stones. The girl was fully dressed, with bronze and iron belt hooks and a purse on her leather belt.
Area: 3.9 x 3.5 cm
Material: Bronze with red glass flow
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