Side 1: King Henry II naming saint Thomas Becket as the Archbishop of Canterbury; King Henry II and saint Thomas Becket holding a mitre or book; standing male figures holding the hilts of their swords; throne; crown.
Semi-circular medallions on the side: city (possibly Canterbury). Boat at sea.
Side 2: Martyrdom of saint Thomas Becket; soldiers in armour; soldier striking saint Thomas on the head; chaplain (Grim) holding a hooded cloak; pilgrim on crutches (?).
Semi-circular medallions on the side: angel holding a scroll. Demon holding a book (?).
Roped border. Foliated decoration.
Wixom et al. 1989: English (Canterbury?), c. 1200-1210.
Little 2002: England (possibly Canterbury), around 1200.
Museum's opinion 2012: England (possibly Canterbury), c. 1200-1210.
Attribution
Unknown
Reverse
Carved on both sides.
Object Condition
Missing: several of the thinner teeth are broken.Worn.
Provenance
Collection of Marquis de Ganay; Collection of Martine, Comtesse de Béhague, Paris: sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 5 December 1987, lot 166; Edward R. Lubin, Works of Art, New York: purchased by the museum in 1988, with the assistance of the Rogers Fund, Schimmel Foundation Inc., Mrs. Maxime L. Hermanos, Lila Acheson Wallace, Nathaniel Spear Jr., Mrs. Katherine S. Rorimer, William Kelly Simpson, Alastair B. Martin and anonymous gifts.
Bibliography
W. D. Wixom, C. T. Little, K. R. Brown and T. B. Husband, 'Medieval sculpture at The Cloisters', in Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, XLVI-3 (winter 1988-1989), p. 16.
Mirror of the Medieval World, exhibition catalogue, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, no. 115.
C. Little, 'The Road to Glory: New Early Images of Thomas Becket's Life' in Reading Medieval Images: The Art Historian and The Objects, ed. by E. Sears and T. K. Thomas (Michigan, 2002), pp. 201-211.
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