HEXAB6108

Hover on
Thumbnail
to
enlarge

Incised fish with gaping jaws decoration

fragment | stonework

sandstone

A 7^th-century carving of a fish
This stone from Wilfrid's church resembles work from Poitiers, France, which in the 7^th century was part of Gaul. Wilfrid was heavily influenced by the church decoration he saw in Gaul and Italy.

The head and part of the body of a fish with a broad slightly chamfered upper border. The jaws of the fish are gaping, the eye rounded. Its body is conveyed by a herring-bone effect on either side of a broad central rib. The surface is covered by a white undercoat, presumably for paint. [Cramp]

late 7^th cent

First noticed by R Cramp in 1972.
Pre-October 2014 in Recess 5 of nave N wall; previously in south aisle of chancel [CASSS 1977]
2012: “Three important decorative pieces of cattle and fish, unique in England, which need to be properly secured (which they are not currently). These pieces tell an important story of Wilfrid's continental tastes and thus his theology of a universal catholic church.” [Hexham Abbey collection faculty document.pdf, §9]

H 19 cm, W 23.5 cm, D 11.5 cm [Kirby, 1974, p.175 no.21]

at right

Visitor Centre/Mercers' Gallery/East Wall

Cramp no.20 p184–5; Kirby 1974 pl.Xc

Use ctrl+F
to search
this page