Reliquary Cross for a Necklace: 11th century AD

Two symmetrical sections of a silver pectoral (breast) cross, joined by hinges with palmette patterns. Inside the outer cross was a smaller cross designed to hold a relic of the True Cross. Technical details of the production of the cross (the decoration is inlaid in a substance called niello) suggest an 11th-century date. Such a cross would have been a powerful amulet, protecting the wearer from harm.

© 1998 Oxfordshire Museum Service, Setúbal Museums and the Benaki Museum