Anglo-Saxon early English art

450 to 871AD: Early English or Anglo-Saxon Art

Imagine the gracefully curving prow of the earliest keel boat which made its crossing from Angeln in southern Denmark: look at the craft with its intricately flowing interlaced carvings and threatening Dragon head .In so doing the very soul of English creativity reveals itself through the ages, forever reinventing itself in every generation, always changing yet always remaining true to its ancient linear roots, and since we are an Island people over time an ‘insular style’ has grown up:

North Sea Saxon kyul (keelboat) with intricate carving of the early migration period, which saw many Germanic peoples move to what is now England.

Therefore the key elements which typify English art are:

• Its linear style
• Its narrative subject matter- much of it being pure fantasy.
• A fusion of the abstract with the naturalistic, much of the detail being subtly ambiguous.
• It’s visionary quality.

Yet our knowledge of our earliest English art is sadly somewhat fragmentary. Intentional or accidental destruction and the rebuilding of later centuries mean that few Anglo-Saxon buildings survive in anything like their original state. The interiors of churches would once have glowed with colour, but now almost nothing remains of the wall paintings or of the costly fabrics (sometimes made of silk interwoven with gold) that adorned the altars. Articles made of gold and silver were prime targets for plunder during the Viking invasions, and almost all of the fine Anglo-Saxon metalwork that we now possess has been dug up after being buried for safekeeping. We know from literary accounts that the early English attached great importance to beautiful and costly objects such as church plate and royal regalia, but the destruction of these has been so wholesale that C. R. Dodwell begins his book “Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective” (1982) with the words “The Anglo-Saxon arts which attract most attention today would have had little interest for the Anglo-Saxon writers”. That is to say, early English Anglo-Saxon art was stupendous in its quality and design. So much for the ‘dark ages’...!

There is another way in which our knowledge of early English art is fragmentary, for we often know little or nothing about the precise circumstances in which surviving objects were made. Anglo-Saxon artists occasionally signed their work, and we know the identity of others from documents, but they are usually nothing but names. By the same token, most early English art can be dated only approximately. Sometimes there are inscriptions to help us, and objects that are found in the tomb of a known person can usually be associated with the time of that person, but Anglo-Saxon sculpture, for example, generally has to be dated solely on the grounds of style (by comparison with manuscript illustrations of known date). Historians of architecture sometimes differ by centuries in the date they assign to old English buildings or parts of them.

Nevertheless, in spite of all these difficulties, the broad outlines of the development of Anglo-Saxon art can be discerned reasonably clearly. There were two main periods of achievement, with between them a bleak time when the country was overrun by marauders from Scandinavia. Remains dating from before the 7th century are at present extremely scanty and belong more to the realm of archaeology than to art. The first great achievements are the magnificent jewelled objects found in a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, dating from about 625 AD. These are heathen, but thereafter the finest works were predominantly produced for the Christian Church. At this time England was divided into a number of small kingdoms and initially the artistic lead was taken in Northumbria, in the north of England, where monks from Ireland (rather than Rome) were the major missionaries (St Aidan came to England from Ireland in 635 AD and founded a monastery on Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, under the auspices of St Oswald, the Christian king of Northumbria). Towards the end of the 8th century, Danish Vikings began to raid England and later to settle. They caused great destruction, and the kingdom of Wessex, in the south of the country, was the only one to survive. Alfred the Great, who reigned from 871 to 899 AD, led the revival against these Viking invaders, and in the 10th century his successors as kings of Wessex gained control over the rest of the country. From this time until the Norman Conquest, the south dominated the country artistically as well as politically, Winchester being the main cultural centre. This period, and particularly the century before the Norman Conquest, is sometimes referred to as the “golden age” of early English art and certainly the finest English art of this time was a match for anything produced on the Continent.

625AD: Sutton Hoo Ship Burial. Bird of prey shield ornament Suffolk England.

625 AD: Sutton Hoo helmet - Anglian metalworking at its finest

Sutton Hoo helmet - Anglian metalworking at its finest	Note: the winged beasts or (English) Dragons worked into the central ribbing of the mask. It is haunting to view close up. The wealth of the find, including many objects of gold and works of unsurpassed craftsmanship, indicate that it was probably the grave of a royal personage from the early English era. Likely candidates include King Rædwald (pro. Rad) of East Anglia, who died c. 627, or Æthelhere, who died in battle in Northumbria in c. 654-655. The ship itself, originally over 27 m (90 ft) long and with 38 oars, was preserved as an impression in the sand with the iron bolts still in position.
625 AD: Sutton Hoo treasure. Gold clasp and purse inlaid with enamel. Left:  Clasp, the head of a horned beast subtly worked into the clasp design. Right:  Purse, inlaid with gold and enamelled cloisonné work.
Sutton Hoo Clasp, the head of a horned beast subtly worked into the clasp	Sutton Hoo Purse, inlaid with gold and enamelled cloisonné work

625 AD: Anglo Saxon jewellery from the Sutton Hoo hoard

Anglo-Saxon shoulder clasp: possibly the highest standard of European jewellery art ever found. Not until modern kilns were developed that reproductions could be made, such was the intricacy of this work.

As can be seen from these treasures, brilliant pure clear colouring is not avoided. It serves the line however and not the other way round. Intricate stylisation of boars is intermingled with abstract motifs at either side.

From the earliest times our English forefathers gathering in their mead halls would love to hear stories, their lives as pioneers in a recently occupied country was precarious and warrior values meant that life was often short, so when they could sit with their companions at the mead bench they were ready to hear fantastic tales of heroes and monsters, such as the poem Beowulf, the first written poem in Old English. They brought other tales from their North Sea lands too and were prepared to pay Scops (musician/storytellers) to relate these from their word hoards. Their halls were painted with decorative scenes from the imagination of native artists and formed a bright background to the flickering lights and the fire.

Many of England’s folk were converted to Christianity at an earlier date than the other northern tribes, notably the Danes, and despite the daily uncertainty of life in an age of frequent local warfare the monasteries gave religious artists the stability needed to push forward a native style in illuminated manuscripts which was to eventually become the envy of Europe. Unfortunately that envy led to various invasions.

698 – 721 AD: The Lindisfarne Gospels

An example of beautiful early Anglo-Saxon manuscript from Lindisfarne

The Lindisfarne Gospels illuminated manuscript shows that despite its church derived Byzantine influence a distinct English liveliness of line and transparent colouring was evolving. Here as in the past days of the great hall the artist was telling a story.

The Lindisfarne Gospels, one of England's greatest art treasures, was probably made on Holy Island in Northumbria (north-east England), in the late seventh or early eighth century. The artist-illuminator was called Eadfrith. Although written in Latin, the manuscript contains the oldest surviving translation of the Gospels into English, added between the lines around 970 AD.

700 AD: The Franks casket

700 AD: Picture of the Franks Casket.

Ivory carvings, usually in whale bone or walrus ivory rather than elephant ivory, were an important aspect of Anglo-Saxon sculpture and demonstrated a connection between early English art and northern European art materials. This whale-bone box, dating from about 700 AD, is profusely carved with biblical, mythological, and historical scenes, it is also inscribed with runes. It is known as the Franks Casket after Sir A. W. Franks who presented it to the British Museum in London.

871- 970AD: The Golden Age of early Anglo-Saxon English art.

This period, often marked by violent exchanges and pitched battles between the English and Danes resulted in victory and then peace for King Alfred’s Wessex and was marked by a vigorous regeneration of learning which owed much to the King’s encouragement of the arts and religious studies, including his own translation into English of some tracts from the bible. Illuminated texts were made and church embroidery was created by English women on an unprecedented scale. Alas, such perishable cloths, once the pride of the country have long since disintegrated, however, we know that they were of the highest standard because the vestments of the Bishop of Winchester are mentioned in courts from Norway to France for their quality.

7th century Jarrow Anglo-saxon stained glass window.

The oldest surviving example of stained glass - believed to go back to the time of the Northumbrian English historian Bede.

Jarrow window

871- 899: The Alfred jewel or reading aestel

The Alfred jewel bears the inscription "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN", "Alfred ordered me to be made" and dates from the reign of King Alfred the Great (ruled 871AD- 899 AD). The jewel is made of gold and cloisonne enamel, covered with a transparent piece of rock crystal. It was discovered in 1693, and is kept in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

The Alfred Jewel

The function of the jewel is likely to have been an "aestel", an object which Alfred sent to each bishopric when his translation of Gregory's "Pastoral Care" was distributed. Each aestel was worth 50 mancuses (gold coins), so was a very expensive item. An aestel was intended to be used as a book pointer; at its base is a circular recess into which was inserted a slender bone or ivory pointer. Since its discovery, there have been within the past few years several more such treasures found, albeit not with the same lavish decoration. The Alfred Jewel was found near Athelney, where Alfred had built a monastery.

899 – 1066AD: England’s artists and artisans thrive

1020 AD wall painting Nether Wallop church (below). This painting, one of many which must have graced the churches of the early English at one time survives as one of only four left in the country.

This scene shows two angels and was painted by artists of the Winchester School who worked here around the year 1020 AD, they were lime-washed over at a later date…by the Normans who tried to oppress English art and language for some 400 years after 1066 AD.

Later a Gothic arch further marred the design (which by that date was under several coats of lime wash)

Note the outlines of Angels painted above the arch. Norman vandalism failed to fully cover this early English art.

1066-1348 AD: The period from the time of King Alfred up to the coming of the Normans and the destruction of a unique form of artistic expression and folk culture, was marked by an increase in both the decorative and applied arts in England. English pictures, silverware enamelwork and fine embroidery were in demand throughout northern Europe.

The final flourish after the cataclysm of 1066 was the creation at Canterbury of the so-called Bayeaux tapestry-an English art treasure of world importance. This work was made by English needlewomen at Canterbury after the battle of Hastings on the instructions of King William and Bishop Odo. One can only imagine the feelings of those women as they were forced to partake in recording the shame of their own people in this commemoration of a crushing defeat by an alien culture which neither respected nor valued the former artistic endeavours of the country they held and occupied.