Silver Reliquary Cross Pendant

Carved in the half-round with brow-band and chin-band; narrow triangular face with slit mouth and lentoid eyes; lateral bunches of hair beneath the wimple; mounted on a custom-made stand. 3.11 kg total, 24 cm high including stand



Private collection, UK.

Trilobate in plan with openwork triangle between three roundels with hatched fields, the upper two surmounted by crosses, depicting scenes from Christ's life: the crucifixion, resurrection and Christ at the Column in relief. 3.39 grams, 31 mm



Ex European collection, 1990s. Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

In 1383 AD, after fire in the town of Bad Wilsnack, Germany) three consecrated communion hosts were found undamaged in the ruins of the church. According to the legend, they were sprinkled with the Holy Blood of Christ, which made Bad Wilsnack a famous pilgrimage site. The resultant pilgrim badges were distinctive in shape with three circles arranged in a triangle and painted in red, referring to this miracle. Although the miracle was doubted by Reformation period scholars like John Hus, the final blow came in 1552, when the miraculous communion hosts were publicly burned.

Showing the robed saint seated on a low chair with a lion, his emblem, at his feet, originally an element from a processional cross; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.
 21.37 grams, 36 mm high



Private collection, UK.