Carved finial
Click ^ for larger image.
This piece of carved stone (probably Bath stone) was found in a vault by W J Pountney during his excavation of pottery manufacturing remains at the site of the medieval Chapel of St Anne in the Wood, in 1914. He considered it to be a finial or miniature ornamental spire from the chapel's shrine. The design is the same on each of the four faces, and the base is pierced to allow its positioning on a metal spike that would hold it firmly in position.
There are tiny traces of gilding, gold leaf, still adhering to some surfaces around the finial, and some specks may be seen around the middle of the top-right photograph (enlarged from the one below).
Jon Cannon, author and lecturer at the University of Bristol, has in 2012 kindly commented on this artefact: "This finial could have been part of any of a variety of structures inside the chapel, such as a screen, a tomb, a reredos (the decorative screen behind the altar), a piscina (a basin often set into the wall near the altar, in which the priest would wash his hands prior to performing the Eucharist and the communion vessels would be rinsed), or a sedilia (a set of seats for those who will perform the service, often positioned immediately south of the altar). It appears to be typical of 15th-century work."
Photographs exhibited with kind permission of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which has this in its collection (reference: Q1573).
Material: stone
Period: Medieval
Find spot: Chapel Way, St Anne's. ST620728
Exhibit contributed by Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Text written by Ken Taylor (2012)
Photographer: Ken Taylor
Acquisition number: 120322b2