Ormside bowl
Encyclopedia
The Ormside Bowl is an Anglo-Saxon
double-bowl in gilded
silver and bronze, with glass, perhaps Northumbria
n, dating from the mid-8th century which was found in 1823, possibly buried next to a Viking
warrior in Great Ormside
, Cumbria
, though the circumstances of the find were not well recorded. If so, the bowl was probably looted from York
by the warrior before being buried with him on his death. The bowl is one of the finest pieces of Anglian
silverwork found in England.
ed together with dome-headed rivets and beaded collars. The surface of the bowl is decorated with a chased repousse technique
.
Sometime after it was originally made the bowl was converted into a drinking vessel.
and five further rivets, of which the central is missing. The gilding on the bowl was added after the other decoration. The inner bowl could have been made in York
as a blue-glass stud matching the bowl's was found there.
, the rim once had a U-sectioned strip of ungilded silver although this has now mostly been lost. This strip was originally attached using 4 clips in the shape of animal heads although 2 of these have also been lost.
The bowl's gilt-silver exterior is decorated with Anglo-Saxon style
interlaced fabulous creatures amid Continental style vines, the frontal gaze of some of the creatures on the bowl is a common occurrence in carvings of this type. These decorations show plants, grapes, fruit, animals and birds in both naturalistic and grotesque style.
Another beaded band is riveted on in four places outside the rim. These rivets have square mountings, in one of which a piece of blue glass survives. The external base plate features five domed rivets. The interlaced cruciform
decoration between these rivets has been made using a repoussé technique. The bowl may also once have had a footring made from gilded wire.
. The decoration on the bowl has been compared to the St Petersburg Bede, Barberini Gospels
, Gandersheim Casket and Rupertus Cross.
The conical bosses on the base of the bowl resemble features of the Kildalton Cross
.
The embossed and fine-lined filigreed designs on the bowl have been compared to those of the Wye Down pendant and the Book of Durrow
leading to it being dated in 1958 by G. Haseloff to 650–700, though this now seems too early.
. In 1898 the burial of a Viking warrior was found in the same churchyard. This burial, including a sword, is now in the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle
where it forms an important part of their early medieval collection.
David M. Wilson
does not consider the bowl to have actually been buried with the Viking warrior, and instead assumes it was really found inside the church, as he considers the bowl to be too fragile to have survived burying.
The bowl itself has previously been displayed in the Yorkshire Museum
and was temporarily displayed in room 2 of the British Museum
until 27 June 2010. This was the first time a regional museum has shown its collection at the British Museum and Margaret Hodge
the Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
encouraged everybody to view the exhibit.
It returned to the Yorkshire Museum
for its reopening on Yorkshire Day
after a £2m refurbishment.
There is also a small exhibition about the bowl in St James' Church in Great Ormside.
Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of a large Anglo-Saxon nation-state whose...
double-bowl in gilded
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
silver and bronze, with glass, perhaps Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n, dating from the mid-8th century which was found in 1823, possibly buried next to a Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
warrior in Great Ormside
Great Ormside
Great Ormside is a small village in the parish of Ormside, in the Eden District, in the English county of Cumbria. It is a few miles away from the small town of Appleby-in-Westmorland. It is near the River Eden. There is also the smaller neighbouring hamlet of Little Ormside. It also has a church...
, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, though the circumstances of the find were not well recorded. If so, the bowl was probably looted from York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
by the warrior before being buried with him on his death. The bowl is one of the finest pieces of Anglian
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
silverwork found in England.
Description
The bowl is a double-shelled cup made from 2 pieces rivetRivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...
ed together with dome-headed rivets and beaded collars. The surface of the bowl is decorated with a chased repousse technique
Repoussé and chasing
Repoussé or repoussage is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. There are few techniques that offer such diversity of expression while still being relatively economical...
.
Sometime after it was originally made the bowl was converted into a drinking vessel.
Inner Bowl
The inner cup is made from gilt-bronze and is riveted with studs of blue glass and silver. The base plate of the internal bowl features 16 circular pieces of glass within a ring of cloisonsCloisonné
Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné...
and five further rivets, of which the central is missing. The gilding on the bowl was added after the other decoration. The inner bowl could have been made in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
as a blue-glass stud matching the bowl's was found there.
Outer Bowl
The outer shell is made from silver-giltSilver-gilt
Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually silver-gilt; for example most sporting trophies, medals , and many crown jewels...
, the rim once had a U-sectioned strip of ungilded silver although this has now mostly been lost. This strip was originally attached using 4 clips in the shape of animal heads although 2 of these have also been lost.
The bowl's gilt-silver exterior is decorated with Anglo-Saxon style
Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of a large Anglo-Saxon nation-state whose...
interlaced fabulous creatures amid Continental style vines, the frontal gaze of some of the creatures on the bowl is a common occurrence in carvings of this type. These decorations show plants, grapes, fruit, animals and birds in both naturalistic and grotesque style.
Another beaded band is riveted on in four places outside the rim. These rivets have square mountings, in one of which a piece of blue glass survives. The external base plate features five domed rivets. The interlaced cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
decoration between these rivets has been made using a repoussé technique. The bowl may also once have had a footring made from gilded wire.
Comparisons
The Ormside bowl is similar in aspects of its style to several bowls from the St Ninian's Isle Treasure but is closer in style to a lost early eighth century hanging-bowl found in the River WithamRiver Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
. The decoration on the bowl has been compared to the St Petersburg Bede, Barberini Gospels
Barberini Gospels
The Barberini Gospels is an illuminated Hiberno-Saxon manuscript Gospel Book , assumed to be of a late eighth century origin...
, Gandersheim Casket and Rupertus Cross.
The conical bosses on the base of the bowl resemble features of the Kildalton Cross
Kildalton Cross
The Kildalton Cross is a monolithic high cross in Celtic cross form in the churchyard of the former parish church of Kildalton The Kildalton Cross is a monolithic high cross in Celtic cross form in the churchyard of the former parish church of Kildalton The Kildalton Cross is a monolithic high...
.
The embossed and fine-lined filigreed designs on the bowl have been compared to those of the Wye Down pendant and the Book of Durrow
Book of Durrow
The Book of Durrow is a 7th-century illuminated manuscript gospel book in the Insular style. It was probably created between 650 and 700, in Northumbria in Northern England, where Lindisfarne or Durham would be the likely candidates, or on the island of Iona in the Scottish Inner Hebrides...
leading to it being dated in 1958 by G. Haseloff to 650–700, though this now seems too early.
Discovery and Exhibition
The bowl was found buried in 1823 in what is now St James' Churchyard in Great OrmsideSt James' Church, Great Ormside
St James' Church, Great Ormside, is an active Anglican church in the village of Great Ormside, Cumbria, England. It is a parish church in the deanery of Appleby, the archdeaconry of Carlisle, and the diocese of Carlisle. The church dates from the 11th century, and has been designated by...
. In 1898 the burial of a Viking warrior was found in the same churchyard. This burial, including a sword, is now in the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle
City of Carlisle
The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...
where it forms an important part of their early medieval collection.
David M. Wilson
David M. Wilson
Sir David Mackenzie Wilson, Kt is a British archaeologist, art historian, and museum curator, specialising in Anglo-Saxon art and the Viking Age. He lives on the Isle of Man....
does not consider the bowl to have actually been buried with the Viking warrior, and instead assumes it was really found inside the church, as he considers the bowl to be too fragile to have survived burying.
The bowl itself has previously been displayed in the Yorkshire Museum
Yorkshire Museum
The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It is the home of the Cawood sword, and has four permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology and astronomy...
and was temporarily displayed in room 2 of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
until 27 June 2010. This was the first time a regional museum has shown its collection at the British Museum and Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge MBE MP, also known as Lady Hodge by virtue of her husband's knighthood, is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994. She was the first Minister for Children in 2003 and was Minister of State for Culture and Tourism at the Department...
the Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
encouraged everybody to view the exhibit.
It returned to the Yorkshire Museum
Yorkshire Museum
The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It is the home of the Cawood sword, and has four permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology and astronomy...
for its reopening on Yorkshire Day
Yorkshire Day
Yorkshire Day is celebrated on 1 August to promote the historic English county of Yorkshire. It was celebrated in 1975, by the Yorkshire Ridings Society, initially in Beverley, as "protest movement against the Local Government re-organisation of 1974", The date alludes to the Battle of Minden, and...
after a £2m refurbishment.
There is also a small exhibition about the bowl in St James' Church in Great Ormside.