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Auction: 26052 - Jewellery & Objets de Vertu
Lot: 42

A POST-MEDIEVAL INSCRIBED RELIQUARY CROSS PENDANT
CIRCA 1600-1700
The silver cross hand-engraved with symbols of the Passion of Christ, including the IHS christogram, the crown of thorns, the crucifixion nails, the spear and sponge, and the lily.
Originally designed to open to hold sacred relics, now sealed shut.
Probably French or Spanish.
Tests as silver
Unmarked
Size/dimensions: 7.63cm long; 4.02cm wide
Gross weight: 14.94g

The cross shows antique patina, with soft surface wear and slight dents consistent with age. The fittings are intact, with evidence of historic solder, and the piece is offered in very good condition.


This pendant is engraved with the Arma Christi, the “weapons of Christ”: the instruments of the Passion, including the crown of thorns, the nails of the Crucifixion, and the spear and sponge. Contemplating these instruments one by one was a central practice of late medieval and early modern devotion, encouraging the faithful to meditate on each stage of Christ’s suffering. They are accompanied here by the IHS christogram, the monogram of the name of Jesus, popularised in the fifteenth century by St Bernardino of Siena and later adopted by the Jesuits as their emblem, and by the lily, symbol of purity and of the Virgin.


Pendant crosses of this kind were made to open, holding a relic or devotional object close to the wearer’s body. The cult of relics was vigorously reaffirmed by the Council of Trent in 1563, and in the century that followed, reliquary crosses became popular personal devotional jewels across Catholic Europe, particularly in France and Spain. They might enclose a fragment associated with a saint, a scrap of cloth, or a wax Agnus Dei medallion of the kind discussed in lot 48. The present cross is now sealed, and its original contents are unknown.

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Estimate
£200 to £300

Starting price
£5