File:Copper-alloy Statue of the Madonna and Child (FindID 496275).jpg

English: A cast copper-alloy statue of the Madonna and child. This artefact is very similar to four others previously recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. See HESH-A00147, IOW-927020, WAW-342B44, HAMP-ED6B74 for examples of similar artefacts. The artefact has a sub-rectangular shape in plan and profile but tapers towards the head. The cross-section is sub-crescent or sub-'C' shaped due to the high reliefed detail on the outer surfaces and concave hollow reverse. The reverse is smooth surfaced and the hollow tapers getting wider and deeper towards the base of the figurine. The metal at the base is slightly thicker than that at the top of the artefact and the edge is flat allowing the figurine to stand alone without attachment or support although it is uncertain whether this was how the artefact was used. The Madonna is depicted seated, forward facing, crowned and robed. Both of the Madonna's arms bend at a 90 degree angle at the elbow and project forwards in line with her thighs. The right arm stops just above her knee. The hand is possibly/probably missing, or damaged, as the terminal to this arm is very crude in relation to the left. The left arm is positoned as the right but the hand, depicted by three small incisions rests on the knee of the infant to support the child. The infant sits, forward facing on the Madonna's left knee. The child's left arm is bent at 90 degrees, as the Madonna's, with the left hand resting on top of Mary's hand. The child's right arm and hand are positioned raised in benediction. As with the example recorded by Mr Robert Webley in HAMP-ED6B74, pleats, folds and other details on the two figures are "clearly defined by grooves and incisions". Also that "material between the two legs at the front of the figurine forms a distinct letter 'M'; this may be coincidental but could be a Marian allusion". It should be noted that on this example the folds of the infant's robes, as the material falls over the knees and legs, also forms an 'M' shape different to but similar to that over the Madonna's legs. Little of the seat can be seen but there is no representation of a back to the seat visible suggesting that it might have been a backless seat or throne. What little can been seen of the Madonna's seat is very similar to that described in the HAMP-ED6B74 record of that figurine's throne "Much of the throne is obscured by drapery with exception of a longitudinal strip to each side decorated with a transverse ridge towards the top and bottom".

This statue weighs 21.61g, has a height of 39.19mm, is 16.92mm wide and 10.76mm thick with a lateral tapering concave reverse.

Discussion: "Examples of this type of figurine have been examined by James Robinson, Curator of Later Medieval and Early Post Medieval Collections at the British Museum, who has suggested that such figurines are generally considered to be fittings from Precentors' staffs or crosiers. They may also have been used in association with tabernacles (the niche where the Eucharist is placed). These figurines date from the fourteenth century. A fine example of a similar figurine is in the British Museum Collections (BM 67, 3-20,1)".