REPLICAS
OF THE ALFRED JEWEL
SIMON KEYNES
<E-mail>
One of the most famous objects to survive from Anglo-Saxon England is the Alfred Jewel, traditionally (and not without good reason) associated with Alfred the Great, king of the West Saxons 871-99. The jewel was found in 1693, at North Petherton in Somerset, on land belonging to Sir Thomas Wroth (c. 1675-1721), only four miles from Athelney, where King Alfred took refuge from the Vikings in 878, and where he is alleged to have burnt the cakes. The first account of the jewel was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, December 1698, p. 441, accompanied by a drawing. The jewel passed into the hands of Sir Thomas Wroth's maternal uncle, Colonel Nathaniel Palmer (c. 1661-1718), and was presented to the University of Oxford after his death (in recognition of the belief, then current, that the university had been founded by Alfred). The jewel is kept in the Ashmolean Museum. An attempt to steal it, on 5 April 1997, was unsuccessful (press report, from The Mail on Sunday, 18 May 1997, p. 27).
The Alfred Jewel (front, back) is inscribed 'AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN' ('Alfred ordered me to be made'); but it is unclear what purpose it was intended to serve. The rivet passing through the hollow socket which protudes from the mouth of the animal head at its base indicates that the jewel itself was formerly attached to the end of a thin rod of some kind. It is often supposed that the whole assembly was used as a pointer, for following words when reading from a book, although no convincing analogy for such an object has yet been identified. An alternative possibility is that the assembly formed part of a symbol of office. It has also been suggested that it was a fitting from a crown, or that it may have been worn as a decorative brooch.
The matter is affected by the existence of three other objects, found in other parts of Wessex and all presumed to be of the same date:
None of these three objects is of quite the same quality or grade as the Alfred Jewel itself, but to judge from the sockets each looks as if it might have been intended to serve much the same (albeit unknown) purpose.
Bibliography
Hinton, D. A., Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork
700-1100 in the Department of Antiquities Ashmolean Museum
(Oxford, 1974), pp. 29-48 (with line drawings)
Keynes, S., and M. Lapidge, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King
Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources (Harmondsworth: Penguin
Classics, 1983), pp. 203-6 (and front cover)
Keynes, S., 'The Discovery and First Publication of the Alfred
Jewel', Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural
History Society 136 (1992), pp. 1-8
Keynes, S., in Museums Journal, May 1992, with photograph of
the back of 'Type C'
Keynes, S., 'The Cult of King Alfred the Great', Anglo-Saxon
England 28 (1999), 225-356, at 269 (gift of the Alfred Jewel to
the University of Oxford, in 1718) and 349 (replicas)
Webster, L., and J. Backhouse The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon
Art and Culture AD 600-900, (London, 1991), no. 260 (Alfred
Jewel), with nos. 259 (Minster Lovell Jewel) and 258 (Bowleaze
Jewel)
Correspondence in Museums Journal 48 (1948-9), pp. 221 [Jan.
1949], and 268 [Mar. 1949]; 49 (1949-50), pp. 47-8 [May 1949]
Further
bibliography
on King Alfred.
Link to a
website
on Alfred the Great.
REPLICAS
There appear to be three main types of replicas or reproductions of the Alfred Jewel, made in the early twentieth century. They can be distinguished most readily from each other by the shape of the animal head when viewed from above: Type A [Ashmolean Museum, c. 1909] is closest to the original; Type B [?Elkington, for Elliot Stock, 1899-1900] has a shorter and more bulbous head, and a longer socket; Type C [Payne and Son, Oxford, 1901-] has a longer head, with more protruding eyes, and a larger socket.
Replicas of the Alfred Jewel
The front of the
Alfred Jewel itself (for comparison)
TYPE A
The Ashmolean replicas (electrotypes, in copper gilt) were made in 1909 by W. H. Young, restorer at the Ashmolean Museum (c. 1905-37), from moulds taken from the original. They are signed 'NEO·' (i.e. Greek for 'Young') on the underside or on the back; in some cases signed 'W. H. Young' in full. Slightly smaller than the original. Jewel-shaped case, with two half-lids.
Papers in Ashmolean file, dated 1909, relate to copyright matters in the making of replicas; also correspondence, dated 1909, between H. A. Alexander and W. H. Young, relating to supply of crystal drops (at least 24, for £2. 8. 0d). Sold officially in the Museum, initially for 4 gns (advertised in leaflet dated January 1910). Letter from V&A to Ashmolean, 8 May 1919, ordering 4 additional copies of the replica, for the Circulation Division; supplied by Ashmolean, at £7 each. Stock apparently lasted until the 1930s.
Ashmolean Museum (signed by WHY)
British Museum (1946, 10-2, 1, presented by R. J. C. Atkinson,
Ashmolean Museum, who had bought it for £10 from Mr John
Denison, to whose father it had been given by Sir Arthur Evans; with
case)
Victoria and Albert Museum (one of five examples, 1901-195/5,
signed by WHY)
Some known to be in private hands.
TYPE B
The Elliot Stock (Elkington) copies, made in 1899-1900, were commissioned and distributed by Elliot Stock (bookseller and publisher), of 62 Paternoster Row, London EC. They were cast from a mould probably made from drawings of the original, then hand-worked to finish. They differ slightly from the original in shape and detail.
Silver gilt; sold for one or two guineas each, until c. 1903. Some evidence in Ashmolean file that 'Elkingtons' were thought to have made 45 electrotypes, and 5 copies in gold; ? for Stock, or a separate venture (see further below).
J. Charles Wall, Alfred the Great: His Abbeys of Hyde, Athelney and Shaftesbury (London: Elliot Stock, 1900), p. 113, apropos the Alfred Jewel: 'In commemoration of the millenary of Alfred, Mr. Elliot Stock has reproduced this jewel so that it may be better known than hitherto, and by it to recall the Christian labours of that king.'
Victoria and Albert Museum (at least three bought in 1901
from Elliot Stock, and used by art students for drawing practice)
Royal Museum of Scotland, Chambers St., Edinburgh EH1 1JF
(accession no. 1901.426, purchased from Elliot Stock for 2 gns)
<letters to SDK, 21.xii.90, 25.iii.91, with two colour photographs
showing front and
back)>
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge (given by
Prof. Bruce Dickins)
Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery (accession no. 4-1949)
<letter to SDK, 17.xii.90, with photographs showing
front,
back,
right side,
top, and
left side>
Dept. of Archaeology and Numismatics, National Museum of Wales
(Acc. no. 99.31, purchased from Elliot Stock in 1899), with a second
example <letter to SDK, 22.vi.92>
Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museums, Clarence Street,
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3JT (accession no. 1964.88)
<letter to SDK, 6.xi.92, 26.xi.92>
Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California at
Berkeley (3 examples, acquired on behalf of Mrs Hearst in 1904 by
Professor Alfred Emerson) <letter to SDK, 13.v.93, with colour
slides of each examples:
front and
back of one)>
Church of St Mary the Virgin, North Petherton, Somerset
(loose-mounted on a chain, and borrowed by Mayor to fix on his chain
of office); reported stolen in 1999
Several known to be in private hands. One (gold) reported stolen in
1996.
TYPE C
The Payne (Oxford) copies were made in the first instance for the millennium celebrations of King Alfred in 1901, by the jewellers Payne and Son, of 113 High St, Oxford, from drawings by William Ewart Payne (1881-1961). They were cast from mould made from drawings of the original, then hand-worked to finish. They differ slightly from the original in shape and detail..
A few copies were made in gold. One is mentioned in connection with the millenary celebrations at Winchester. Another was presented to King Edward VII by George Septimus Payne (1850-1933).
Replicas advertised in a booklet: J. Gilbert, A Short History
of the Famous Alfred Jewel (Oxford: Payne and Son, 1901). 'The
reproductions of the Alfred Jewel being hand-wrought are necessarily
limited in number, and intending purchasers are respectfully informed
that orders can only be executed in rotation at following
prices:-'
Hand-wrought 18 ct. Gold (Plaques enamelled on Gold, Fronts of Rock
Crystal) £14 10s 6d.
Hand-wrought 18 ct. Gold, made with equal care £13 0s 0d.
Silver-gilt, accurate and highly finished facsimiles £2 12s 6d.
See also A Century of Silver, Catalogue of an Exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1988), no. 9; and J. and S. Dewey, Payne & Son: Two Centuries of a Family Firm (Wallingford, 1990), p. 37. BM example described (in Museums Journal) as follows: 'slick mechanical finish' (e.g. on underside); first E, and F, D of 'AELFRED', and C of 'MEC', are ornamentally spotted; dress of figure is virulent green; background purple; face and arms deathly white; exposed edges of metal vanes which form the cells are not gilded; details redrawn; not accurate. Socket oversized; protruding eyes.
Made in larger quantities, in silver-gilt, by Deakin and Francis, of Birmingham, until c. 1940; dies and tools destroyed in Birmingham during the Second World War.
Payne and Son, jewellers, of 113 High St., Oxford
<letter to SDK, 9.i.91>
British Museum (OA 241)
Stroud District (Cowle) Museum (two examples)
(1) 'Contained in a red paper (imitation leather) covered jewel
shaped box of wood with two half lids and brass catch. On the back is
a label, "The Oxford Facsimile of King Alfred's Jewel made by Payne
and Son, Goldsmiths, Oxford 1901 (Alfred Millenary Year). Signed WE
Payne. No of Copy SG 38." <SG = Silver Gilt?> The inside is
silk lined and stamped "Est. 1790 Payne and Son, High St, Oxford and
Tunbridge Wells."' Inscription all in same style, except D, which has
thirteen punched dots.
(2) Type C, 'on the basis of the colour of the portrait'; made with
dies different from the other, 'and the decoration of the inscription
is clearly a hand operation'.
Some are known to be in private hands.
<Example>
OTHER COPIES
Records of several others in museums and in private hands.
North Newton Church, Somerset
Modern AJ badges on sale in the Ashmolean Museum in the 1990s. Made by Fattorini's, of Birmingham.
The Alfred Jewel in literature (and history)
'On Louisa's birthday John Fort William, an ardent antiquarian,
gave her a replica of King Alfred's jewel. Linda, whose
disagreeableness at this time knew no bounds, said that it simply
looked like a chicken's mess. "Same shape, same size, same colour.
Not my idea of a jewel."'
(Nancy Mitford, The Pursuit of Love, p. 57.)
'Togo gave Pam a replica of King Alfred's jewel that, Nancy
thought and said, looked like a chicken's mess; even such a lifelong
poultry fancier as Pam did not think this quip agreeable, but Nancy
saved it up for The Pursuit of Love. As to the 'chicken's
mess', Pam later gave it to Unity because she liked it; and Unity
later presented it to Hitler.'
(Jonathan Guiness, The House of Mitford, pp. 279-80.)
