Medieval Bronze Cross with Cyrillic Inscription pre-1400

Description

Material: Copper-alloy

Period: Medieval

Date: c1400

Origin: Eastern Europe. Slavic

Condition: Fine+ 

Description: A bronze cross with an orthodox cross inscribed on the centre. each corner has a different abbreviated dedication and on the reverse more devotional text in probably early Cyrillic. Suspension loop to top and still wearable.

Size and Weight: 35mm. 1.75g 

Features and Provenance: This early cross is not a crucifix as there is no figure of Christ the corpus. This depicts the Orthodox variant of the cross with its extra cross bar slanted to an angle. This type of cross is used for example by the Ukrainian church. The slanted bar symbolises the wood that must have supported the feet of Jesus when he was crucified.

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of the artefact and there are grades between

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of pattern etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of pattern etc present. but may be worn

Fine (F). Wear on the artefact and parts of item and pattern etc may be missing or not visible