Ivory Carvings in England from Before the Norman Conquest
By Dr Paul Williamson
Tantalising ivory fragments, carved in the half century before the Norman Conquest, reveal the
outstanding skill of their Anglo-Saxon carvers. Dr Paul Williamson, from the Victoria and Albert
Museum, delves into this ancient art.
Centres of production
The major centres of artistic production in England in the century before and after the Norman
Conquest were the principal monastic foundations. The powerful and well connected religious
houses, at Winchester and Canterbury especially, played a central role in creating what can be
recognised as a distinctly English style in manuscript illumination, and in the related arts of ivory
carving and goldsmiths' work.
In an age when Viking incursions and violent local troubles profoundly affected the day-to-day
life of the ordinary people, the monasteries must have seemed to represent an untroubled and
peaceful retreat. Several of them enjoyed great wealth, royal protection, well stocked libraries and
links with continental Europe, all vital ingredients for the creation of great art in the first half of
the 11th century. At times, monasteries stood virtually alone in the country, as places of cultural
awareness and learning.
'...monasteries stood virtually alone in the country, as places of cultural awareness and learning.'
The monasteries at Winchester and Canterbury were already famous by the time of the Conquest,
for the quality of the illuminated manuscripts produced in their scriptoria (the scribes' workshops).
Alongside the monks copying and illustrating the Gospels, other craftsmen were employed to
carve ivory to embellish the covers of the sacred books, and to fashion reliefs for a range of other
uses, such as decorating altar crosses, and shrines containing relics.
Two of the finest of these exquisite little sculptures are held in the V&A. Only about 10cm (4in)
high, they show Christ in Majesty, seated on a cushioned throne with a tall, thin book in his left
hand and a sceptre - now snapped off - in his right, and the Virgin and Child, seated on a rainbow.
Both, curiously enough, have been broken on the left side. Rather than being carved in elephant
ivory, they have been made from a walrus tusk, a material commonly used in northern Europe for
such objects at this time.
Style and decoration
Seen in isolation, it would be difficult to be sure where and when these reliefs were carved, as
there are no inscriptions or dates carved into their surfaces. But the style of the carvings,
employing a lively agitated crinkled effect on the edges of the draperies, is so distinctive that
parallels are not hard to find.
Unsurprisingly, the best comparisons are with manuscript illuminations produced in the
Winchester and Canterbury workshops, such as the famous Trinity Gospels in Cambridge, which
were probably made in about 1020. Indeed, when one compares the image of Christ in Majesty in
the Gospels with the walrus ivory carving of the same subject, it is hard to argue that they were
not produced in the same workshop. In this connection it is as well to remember that the ivories
were originally painted, so that the similarity with manuscript illuminations would have been even
more marked than it is today.
'...the best comparisons are with manuscript illuminations...'
The Christ in Majesty plaque still retains microscopic remains of paint. The background was
originally blue, the throne, footstool and cushion were gold, as was the book in Christ's left hand
and much of his hair, crown and garments. His lips were red and his hands and feet pink. Although
no paint survives on the Virgin and Child, the presence of pin holes around the border suggests
that the relief was once decorated with a strip of material - probably gilt copper - which would
have been held in place with small round-headed pins.
Lost treasures
Too bulky to have decorated a book cover, the reliefs perhaps originally belonged to a portable
altar, or some other liturgical object. Most of these precious items, once so common in monastic
and cathedral treasuries, have long since disappeared. Many would have been lost in the Early
Middle Ages, perhaps even shortly after their creation, as buildings were so vulnerable to fire.
In 1067, for example, a terrible blaze destroyed Canterbury Cathedral: an Anglo-Saxon chronicler
described how 'it happened that the city of Canterbury was set on fire by the carelessness of some,
and that the fire was borne by the rising flames into the mother church and settled there... the
voracious fire destroyed practically all that was most precious, whether in gold and silver or in
various art-objects of other kinds or in sacred and secular manuscripts.'
'Most of these precious items... have long since disappeared.'
Viking raids must also have accounted for some of the early losses, and occasionally costly items
from churches and monasteries were sold off by charitable abbots to help the needy and hungry.
Far worse depredations befell the native Anglo-Saxon works of art after the Norman Conquest.
Sold and destroyed
The Normans gave many of the most valuable pieces as gifts to religious foundations abroad,
predominantly in Normandy: William of Poitiers, a contemporary writer, recorded that the English
art treasures sent to Caen alone would take too long to list, let alone describe.
They also caused those responsible for the safekeeping of the treasures to sell many of the objects
in their care, in order to pay the extra taxes levied against them. When the bishops and abbots
complained about not being able to pay the new taxes, the Norman officials answered 'Do you not
have reliquaries made of gold and silver, full of the bones of dead men?', and forced them to strip
the treasuries.
'Torn from their proper context, they are now no more than suggestive fragments...'
In due course many of the Anglo-Saxon works of art that had found their way to France must have
been sold, or destroyed, on the breaking-up of many cathedral treasuries during the French
Revolution in 1789; and those that remained in England fared little better.
Under Henry VIII, the cathedrals were once again denuded of their possessions, and the
systematic Dissolution of the Monasteries ensured that very little of real splendour survives from
the Middle Ages. It is easy to imagine the two 11th-century reliefs in the V&A sustaining the
damage to their left sides as they were being ripped from their medieval settings at this time.
Torn from their proper context, they are now no more than suggestive fragments, which, taken
together with a pitifully few other pieces, represent the only remains of the Anglo-Saxon ivory
carver. 'The men of England are outstandingly skilful in all the arts' wrote William of Poitiers, and
the tantalising survivals from the half century before the Conquest in 1066 reinforce this claim in
the most eloquent and poignant manner.
Did you know?
That walrus ivory carvings can only be distinguished from those of elephant ivory by a band of
crystalline 'secondary dentine', which is usually to be seen running down the back of the reliefs.
Herds of walruses were to be found much further south in the Middle Ages than they are today.
Large-scale massacres greatly reduced their numbers by the 15th century.
Most Anglo-Saxon sculpture was coloured. Although very little paint now survives on the
remaining pieces, contemporary sources such as Aelfric's Colloquy (probably of the early 11th
century) describe their original appearance.
At the Reformation, 24 carts were needed to transport the confiscated contents of the treasury of
Canterbury Cathedral, which included most of the church's medieval works of art, to the London
Mint in 1536-40. The objects were then broken up and melted down.
The earliest monasteries in England were set up by the Benedictines, an order created by the
sixth-century Italian monk St Benedict. Because of the colour of their habits, the monks were
known as 'black monks'. Later, from about 1130, the Cistercians - the 'white monks' - were also
introduced into England.
In an 11th-century monastery, the day started at about 2.00am. The monks' day was punctuated by
eight services or 'offices', said at regular periods, and ended at about 7.00pm, when they went to
bed. In winter the monks were only allowed one meal a day, usually taken in the afternoon, at
about 2.00pm.
In the second half of the 11th century, Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote a rule-book
for monks. Amongst the regulations, he stipulated that monks should take a bath five times a year.
At the time of the Norman Conquest many of the monks living in monasteries had been sent there
as children: the infant recruits were known as 'oblates', and many were given away by their parents
when they were ten years old.
Find out more
Books
Ivory Carvings in Early Medieval England by John Beckwith (Harvey Miller Press, 1972)
Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective by CR Dodwell (Manchester University Press, 1982)
The Anglo-Saxons edited by James Campbell (Phaidon Press, 1982)
Life in a Medieval Abbey by Tony McAleavy (English Heritage Series) (London, 1996)
The Medieval Treasury: The Art of the Middle Ages in the Victoria and Albert Museum edited by
Paul Williamson (V&A Publications, 1998)
About the author
Paul Wilmshurst is a freelance writer, producer and director of documentaries and docudramas.
Previous work includes:- White Tribe, Mob Law, The Gambler, Secrets and Lines, Diceworld,
Vanished, Rewind the Summer, Frank Skinner on Frank Skinner, A Little Bit of Elvis with Frank
Skinner. He lives in London.