thickness, under which is placed the singular enamelled subject, of which no satisfactory explanation has hitherto been given; it has been supposed to be a representation of the Saviour, St. Neot, St. Cuthbert, or of Alfred himself.
The workmanship is very curious: the design was first traced out in filigree attached to the face of the plate of gold; the intervening spaces were then filled up with vitreous pastes of different colours, so that at first sight the work appears to resemble a mosaic, but there can be little doubt that the colours were fixed upon the plate by fusion. The ground is of a rich blue, coloured probably by means of cobalt; the face and arms are white, slightly shaded; the portions which in the woodcut are shaded diagonally are of a pale translucent green, and those which are hatched with perpendicular lines are of a reddish brown. The vitreous pastes in this instance are semi-transparent and of a crystalline crackly appearance, resembling some specimens of quartz. The rarity and great value of works of this description render it impracticable to ascertain by analysis the precise nature of this kind of enamel, applied in all known examples to gold alone, and evidently differing in composition from enamels of more common occurrence, executed upon copper.
The late Mr. Petrie informed me that an ornament, enriched by a similar process of art, had been found in the neighbourhood of Worthing. A convex brooch of gold filigree, set with pearls, and a central enamelled ornament precisely similar to Alfred's jewel in the mode of execution, was found in 1840, about nine feet beneath the surface, in Thames-street, London[1]. A similar ornament, of most rich and elaborate workmanship, is preserved with the Hamilton gems in the British Museum, but no record of the circumstances connected with the discovery has been found. The enamelled compartment in the centre is of cruciform design, elegantly foliated, and enriched with various colours, the border being set with pearls and enamels of smaller size, alternately. This beautiful brooch measures in diameter 2 in. and four-tenths. In these examples it appears certain that the colours were fixed upon the gold by
- ↑ It is in the possession of Mr. C. R. Smith, who communicated an account of it to the Society of Antiquaries. See Archæologia, vol. xxix. pl. x.
