A beautiful and rare medieval gilt-bronze figurine of a saint - probably St John the Evangelist. It was originally part of a processional cross or Bishop's crosier – dating to circa 1400-1530. The young male figure is depicted standing, holding a book in his left hand. The right arm bent at the elbow so that the hand is raised with palm pointing outwards, in a typical medieval ecclesiastical pose. The figure is standing on a rectangular topped plinth with faceted (four sided) base tapering downwards to a worn break.

The figure is standing facing with a clean-shaven appearance and a monk's tonsured haircut. There is a roll-moulding around the head, representing the end of the hair and has numerous broadly vertical incisions visible depicting the hair, which run over the moulding and end below the crown of the head. The rest of the face is worn although the facial features had once clearly been defined. The lentoid eyes are wide open.

The drapery runs from the shoulders, under the raised hand before running above the left hand holding the object. The right-hand side of his body has a triangle groove depicting drapery being bunched up under the arm. The majority of the reverse has not been decorated with drapery save for around the base and one large wrinkle from the shoulders to the base.

The majority of the gilding has been worn off and survives mostly in the 'folds' of the robes. The back facet of the pedestal has substantial gilding survived compared to the rest of the figurine.A similar, although seated figurine on an octagonally faceted base is set within the crook of Bishop Richard Fox's crosier, now in the collection Corpus Christi College, Oxford. This is dated to the early 16th century and made of gilded silver; it represents St Peter, patron of Winchester of which Fox was bishop from 1501 to 1528 (Marks and Williamson 2003, no. 104). A much smaller standing figure of the Virgin and Child on a hexagonally faceted base, also of gilded silver, is known from the belt-attachment of the seal matrix of St Stephen's Church, Bristol, now in Bristol Museums and Art Gallery, which is dated to c. 1450-1470 (Marks and Williamson 2003, no. 315).

It is probable that this figurine came from an object commissioned by a church and is probably a depiction of St John the Evangelist. Perhaps originally from a crucifixion group with the Virgin Mary on the other side. The book is a common attribute of St John the Evangelist, and there is a similar almost complete processional cross from Glastonbury, now in the British Museum collection (see last photo) which shows how the figure could have originally been placed as part of a group consisting of a central crucifix with images of saints standing on branches to either side. This rare and important piece of medieval sculpture is part of the very small surviving corpus of English gilt-bronze figures. It was discovered by metal detectorist in Dover, Kent in 2018. A museum quality artefact – in fact a very similar example was acquired by Colchester Castle Museum.

Dimensions: Height: 93.62 mm. Width: 25.38 mm. Thickness: 18.11 mm. Weight: 139.18 g

References: Wise, P.J., 2010, Figures of St John from Late Medieval Processional Crosses Found in Essex, Essex, Essex Archaeology and History; Marks, R. and Williamson, P., 2003, Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547, London, V&A Publications.

Recorded on the PAS Database as - Unique ID: KENT-00DF38.