Title

Hand Cross

Creator

Preview

Geography

Ethiopia, Africa

Culture

Ethiopian

Medium

Wood, possibly olive, acacia, or ebony

Dimensions

16 ✕ 4 ¹/₂ ✕ ³/₄ in. (40.6 ✕ 11.5 ✕ 1.9 cm)

5.33 oz. (151.2 g)

Credit Line

Bequest of David P. Harris ('46), 2020

Accession Number

2020.39

Provenance

Purchased by David P. Harris from the United Nations Gift Center in New York on February 20, 1977.

Condition

One corner of the cross is missing; the edges are smooth.

References

Brad Hostetler, and Lynn Jones, eds., Ethiopian Objects in the Blick-Harris Study Collection: Art, Context, and the Persistence of Form, Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art & Architecture 8, no. 1 (Spring 2022): pp. 5–25, 67–75, 95–97, cat. 7. https://digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/vol8/iss1/1/

Description

This hand cross consists of a lozenge-shaped circumscribed cross. The lower end of the shaft terminates in a rectangular base with a cross-shaped finial. This hand cross is not straight; the plane of the lozenge tilts and twists toward the side with the broken corner, preventing the cross from lying flat.

The cross on side 1, features a narrow border consisting of a beaded line between two plain lines. The wider border on side 2 includes a beaded line enclosed by cross-hatches, resembling a basket-weave pattern. The differing border widths on each side result in different sizes of the central cross design. Multiple perpendicular and diagonal lines intersect to create several smaller crosses within the larger cruciform design.

Madison Gilmore-Duffey, in Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art & Architecture 8, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 95. https://digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/vol8/iss1/1/