Christian Processional Cross

possibly 15th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

This fifteenth-century cross is interesting for its arabesques, which include a central cross with the kabbalistic design of a continuous four-part loop, called a hatumere in Arabic and known all across the Saharan region as a protective image. Processional crosses like this one are shown being carried by figures in fifteenth-century illuminated manuscripts, but existing processional crosses with this design are rare; the design is more common for silver pectoral crosses.

Medium

Copper alloy

Dimensions

19 1/2 × 14 × 2 in. (49.5 × 35.56 × 5.08 cm)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund

Accession Number

2010.223.1

Geography

Gondar, Ethiopia

Culture

Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Period

18th–19th century

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Dr. and Mrs. John Summerskill, Addis Ababa (at the time of collection, the couple left Ethiopia in 1970), c. 1968-2007; William Wright (son of Mrs. John Summerskill), Belle Mead, New Jersey, 2007-2010; sold to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2010




Bibliography
  • Frederick John Lamp, "Designs against Evil: An Ethiopian Orthodox Processional Cross," in "Elihu Yale," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2012), 112–113, fig. 1A–B
  • "Acquisitions," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin: Online Supplement (accessed March 1, 2012), 4–5, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

crosses (objects), pendants (jewelry), religious art

Subject

Christianity

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

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