pation. These interesting brooches were gilt, the centre chased with a peculiar design (see Woodcuts of fibulæ), surrounded by impressed ornament. The decoration was similar in both examples. The acus had been of iron. Fibulæ of this type are rare: the finest examples known are in the possession of the Hon. Richard Neville, and were formerly in the Museum at Stowe. They were found at Ashendon, Bucks, and are of very unusual size, diam. 314 inches. They are jewelled, and the arrangement of ornament is cruciform. A bronze fibula, of the same type, found at Stone, in Bucks, is engraved in the Archæologia, Vol. xxx., p. 545. Two others, found in Gloucestershire, are given in the Journal of the Archaeological Association, Vol. ii,, p. 54, and Vol. iv., p. 53.
By Dr. Mantell.—A beautiful gold ring, set with an uncut sapphire, found on Flodden Field.—The seal of the Deanery of Paulet, co. Somerset, found near Winchester.
By the Rev. E. Venables, Local Secretary in Sussex.—Impression from the sepulchral brass of an ecclesiastic, in the mass-vestment, from the church of Emberton, Bucks. The figure measures 3012 inches long. From the upraised hands proceeds an inscribed scroll—"Ion preyth' the sey for hȳ a pat' nost' & an aue." The inscription beneath the feet is singular, commemorating the benefactions of the deceased in service-books given to certain churches—"Orate p' aīa M'ri Johīs Mordon al's andrew quond'm Rectoris isti' eccl'ie qui dedit isti eccl'ie portos missal' ordinal' p's oculi in crat' ferr' Manual' p'cessional' & eccl'ie de Olney catholicon legend aur' & portos in crat' ferr' & eccl'ie de Hullemortoñ portos in crat' ferr' & alia ornamenta. qui obijt (blank) die Mens' (blank) Au° dñi M°. CCCC°. X (blank) cuius aīe p'piciet' deus Amē." The dates have never been inserted, this sepulchral portraiture having been placed in his lifetime, probably before 1420, and in commemoration of his donations, possibly as a security for their preservation, as was frequently sought by the anathema, "quicunque alienaverit." The term crat' ferr' has not been explained, and some conjectural interpretations were suggested. Crata or crates is a grating, such as the inclosure of a tomb or chancel; the trelliced railing near an altar is termed "craticea ferrea." It may perhaps imply a kind of iron frame or lectern on which the Porthose (portiforium) missal, ordinal, and other books thus given were placed, or a grated receptacle for their safe preservation.[1] The donor possibly took his alias from Hill-Morton, a parish in Warwickshire, to which he gave a portiforium and ornaments of sacred use,—ornamenta, a term denoting the vessels or customary appliances of the altar.
By Mr. Way.—Impressions from several incised slabs existing in France, comprising the effigies at St. Denis, attributed to two abbots of that monastery (see the representations given in this Journal, p. 48), and the fine figure of the architect by whom the earlier portions of the Abbey Church of St. Ouen, at Rouen, were built,—namely, the choir and chapels surrounding it. The work commenced A.D. 1319. No record of his name has been ascertained. He holds a tablet, on which is traced a window and cornice, resembling precisely the work attributed to his design. Also, the beautiful figure of John, Chancellor of Noyon, who died 1350. This slab is preserved at the Palais des Beaux Arts, Paris, and is represented admirably in "Shaw's Dresses and Decorations."
- ↑ The grating of the Parlatory in monasteries was called cratis. Ducange cites a passage in which mention occurs of the craticulæ—"ubi fratres ad psallendum se subponere soliti sunt. Polycandeli species in formam cratis efficta."
