Medieval Pewter 'Our Lady of Willesden' Pilgrim's Badge

Carved stylised elephant with elongated ears supporting a palanquin in the form of a caste with a carved cross, foliage motif to the reverse; mounted on a velvet-covered stand. 1.31 kg total, 34.2 cm including stand



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13088-248391.

The image of an elephant carrying warriors in a howdah originated from Alexander the Great's battle against King Porus's war elephants at the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC. This motif became widely known in European art through the spread of Bestiaries which were medieval texts combining natural history with moralising Christian stories. One of the most well known was Matthew Paris’s imagined depictions of elephants, most notable in this case is his war elephant illustrated in Chronica maiora II, circa 1240-1255 (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 016II). Another well known manuscript - The Rochester Bestiary, circa 1230-1240 (British Library, London, Royal MS 12 F.xiii) contains a miniature with a war elephant in the midst of battle, above another image of elephants supposedly in their natural habitat. Since very few live elephants were seen in Europe during the medieval period, their representations were often more imaginative than realistic. Other Medieval bench end carvings of elephants in English churches are known, amongst them are: St Peter and St Paul, Tuttington, Norfolk; St Andrew, South Lopham, Norfolk; St Edmund, South Burlingham, Norfolk; St Andrew, Holme Hale, Norfolk. Elephants can also be found on misericords, some examples can be found at: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Exeter; Cathedral Church of St Peter, Gloucester; and St Mary's Church, Beverley.

Rectangular in form with a circular hole in its top right corner, decorated with a heater shield containing a two-strand cross bottony terminals, set within a red enamel field; diagonal hatching in the two outer angles. 5.74 grams, 21 mm



Found Crowmarsh, South Oxfordshire, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.SUR-CCD479.

With hexafoil bezel, each petal with impressed pellet. 5.28 grams, 22.83 mm overall, 18.04 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N 1/2, USA 6 3/4, Europe 14.35, Japan 13)



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.