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Durham E-Theses A catalogue and re-evaluation of the Urnes style in England Owen, Olwyan Anne How to cite: Owen, Olwyan Anne (1979) A catalogue and re-evaluation of the Urnes style in England, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10298/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ABSTRACT The first part contains a study of the methodological approaches used in the analysis of the Urnes style, and they are subsequen• tly applied to the Urnes material in Scandinavia. The Scandinavian style is discussed in relation to the different objects and monu• ments on which it- appears, and a dating is attempted. Against this background, in part two the English material is discussed, accord• ing to the medium in which it is executed, and an English version of the style is defined. The dating evidence for the style in Eng• land is presented, and the Urnes material in Ireland is compared with it. Fart three containes a catalogue of all the Urnes material in England known at the present time. i 1*7! • i r1 it I ISA •' 11 t n t IV t ll.1 1 Jit r •M. ill I :3»~v J1" T% 1 I.1 3 9 IV r ! A Catalogue and Re-evaluation of the Urnes style in England A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts by Olwyn Anne Owen Department of Archaeology, University of Durham. December, 1979 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. List of contents: Page Preface List of figure illustrations in the text. List of photographic plates: catalogue material and compa• rative material. Introduction : The history of the study of the Urnes style. 1 Part one : SCANDINAVIA Chapter one : Approaches to the analysis of the Urnes style.6 Chapter two The Scandinavian Urnes style : an analysis of the ornament of Urnes stave church, and of the distinctions between Urnes and other late Viking art stylistic groups. 13 Chapter three The style of the runestones. 39 Chapter four Portable artefacts decorated with Scandi• navian Urnes style. 54 ^Chapter five The dating of the Urnes style in Scandi• navia. 64 Part two : ENGLAND Chapter six : English metalwork of the Urnes style. 72 A : Stylistic analysis of English metalwork of the Urnes style. 72 B The functions of English metalwork objects of the Urnes style, and a consideration of the techniques used in their manufacture. 123 Distribution patterns and places of manu• facture. 136 Chapter seven Sculpture in England of the Urnes style. 145 Chapter eight Miscellaneous examples of Urnes style decoration in England. 158 A The walrus ivory comb. 158 B A stylus addition to MS. Royal I.E.VI. 161 i Chapter nine : The dating of the Urnes style in England. 165 Chapter ten : The stylistic and chronological relation• ship of the Irish Urnes material to the English. 176 Fart three : CATALOGUE Introduction 190 Catalogue 192" Appendices: A Summary of the conclusions of Bertil Almgren in his thesis Bronsnycklar och Djurornamentik.239 B : Stave church and other woodcarving of the Urnes and Urnes/Romanesque stylistic phases. 241 C : 'Urnes ornament' on the sculptures from Gosforth, Cumbria. 244 D : Possible Urnes derived elements in Anglo- Norman sculpture. 246 E : Summary of recent research into the post- Conquest burials in Durham cathedral chapter house, with particular reference to the grave which contained the Durham crosier head. 249 F : The association of the silver fragments from London with a post-Conquest coin hoard. 252 G : An Urnes style strap end from Freswick. 255 Footnotes. 256 List of works consulted and bibliography. 295 Plates. 308 ii Preface I wish to acknowledge the help and advice of the following people: Mr. Christopher Morris, for his advice and unfailing encouragement and enthusiasm for as long as I have known him. Mr. Ingmar Jansson, for his teaching, and for sharing his love of the runestone material with me. Mr. Norman Emery, for his wonderful illustrations and sympathetic ear. Mr. Tom Middlemass and Mr. Trevor tfabdTfor their efficient help in the production of the photographs. Mrs. E. Souley who has typed the manuscript so well and so quickly. In addition, I would like to thank the many people in museums, libraries and institutes in both Scandinavia and England who have done so much to facilitate my studies. And finally, my family and friends, without whose constant support, this work could not have been possible. iii List of figures in the text. (Unless otherwise stated, the illustrations and photographs are my own) PART ONE Between pages Figure A. Four types of Urnes style animal on Urnes church 16 - 17 Figure B. Standing quadruped on St.Pauls churchyard stone, prepared for curvature analysis 34 - 35 Figure C. Standing quadruped on Urnes stave church portal, prepared for curvature analysis 34 - 35 Figure D. i.Ornament lines of the St.Pauls churchyard stone animal are juxtaposed 34 - 35 ii.Ornament lines of the Urnes stave church portal animal are juxtaposed iii.Curvature of circular and pearshaped loops is contrasted Figure E. i.Standing quadruped on Jelling stone, prepared for curvature analysis 34-35 ii.Ornament lines of the Jelling stone animal are juxtaposed PART TWO Figure F. The larger Lincoln mount (Illustrated by Norman Emery) 71 - 72 Figure G. i.Animal on Sedgeford mount, prepared for curvature analysis 87 - 88 ii.Ornament lines of the animal on the Sedgeford mount are juxtaposed Figure H. i.The Lincoln mount with and without its subtriangular frame, compared to the unprovenanced mount. (Kendriek 1949, fig. 19 a-b) 104 - 105 ii.The design on the Durham crosier head (Wilson 1966, fig.68) iii.Outline shape of a Petersen type G spearhead iv Figure J. Nineteenth century lithograph of the Durham crosier head (Fowler 1879, pl.xxxi) 104 - 105 Figure K. i.The upper and lower ribbon beasts on the Durham crosier head, prepared for curvature analysis 106 - 107 ii.Ornament lines of the upper ribbon beast are juxtaposed iii.Ornament lines of the lower ribbon beast are juxtaposed Figure L. Reconstruction of Urnes style book clasp in use (Illustrated by Norman emery) 124 - 125 Figure M. Comparative table showing those features of the Urnes i style mounts in England associated with their functions II4.I4. ~/if5 Figure N. Distribution map of parish names of Scandinavian origin (Sawyer 1971, fig.11) 144 - 145 Figure 0. Distribution map of Urnes style bronze mounts in England 144 - 145 Figure P. One side of the Norwich capital (Green 1967, 241) 152 - 153 Figure Q. i.Ribbon beast on the walrus ivory comb, prepared for curvature analysis 160 - 161 ii.Ornament lines of.the walrus ivory comb ribbon beast are juxtaposed. List of photographic plates: Catalogue material Plate no. Bronze mount from Peterborough 1 Bronze mount from Kemsley Downs, Kent 2 Bronze mount from Lincoln 3 Bronze mount of unknown provenance 4 Bronze mount from Sedgeford 5 Bronze mount from Tynemouth 6 Bronze mount from Lincoln 7 (courtesy of the Lincoln Archaeological Trust) Bronze mount from Colchester, Essex 8 (courtesy of the Colchester Castle Museum) Bronze mount from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire 9 (Wilson 1964, pl.Xe) Bronze mount from Mildenhall, Suffolk 10 (courtesy of the Ashmolean museum, Oxford) Bronze mount from Ixworth, Suffolk 11 (Wilson 1964, pi. Xb) Brooch from Pitney, Somerset 12 Brooch from Sutton, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire 13 (Wilson 1964, pl.xxxi, 83) Northampton animal head terminal 14 (photographed by Dominic Tweddle) Sussex animal head terminal 15 (photographed by Dominic Tweddle) Durham crosier head 16 (photographed by Tom Middlemass) Stirrup from Mottisfont, Hampshire 17 (Read 1887, 533) Silver fragments from London 18 (Shetelig 1935, 23) Hammersmith cast bronze plaque- 19 (Wilson 1964, pl.xxiii, 42) Stone slab from Jevington, Sussex 20 (Kendrick 1949, pl.Lxxxv) Carved capital from Norwich Cathedral 21 Carved capitals from Kirkburn, Yorkshire 22 Designs from a tympanum and lintel, Hoveringham, Nottinghamshire 23 (Moe 1955, 22, fig.18a and b) vi Plate no Tympanum from Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire 24 (Summers 1972, 5) Walrus ivory comb 25 Stylus addition to Royal I.E.VI 26 (courtesy of the British Museum) vii Comparative material Plate no. Standing quadruped on Urnes stave church portal Frontispiece (Illustration by Norman Emery) View of Urhes stave church from the south-west 27 (Anker 1969, i, colour plate opposite p.222) North wall of Urnes stave church 28 (Anker 1969, i, pi.101) Detail of the portal from Urnes stave church 29 (Anker 1969, i. pi.102) Detail of the portal from Urnes stave c hurch 30 (Anker 1969, i, pi.105) Detail of the door and portal from Urnes stave church 31 (Anker 1969, i, pi.104) Exterior column at the north-east corner of Urnes stave church nave 32 (Anker 1969, i. pi.103) a) West gable of Urnes stave church 33 (Wilson 1966, fig.66) b) East gable of Urnes stave church (Hauglid 1970, 102) Reconstruction of Urnes stave church portal 34 (Hauglid 1970, 100) Jelling stone, Denmark 35 (Foote and Wilson 1970, pi.21) St.Paul's churchyard stone, London 36 (Foote and Wilson 1970, pi.26a) Kallunge vane, Gotland 37 (Wilson 1966, fig.58) a) Runestone from Ardre, Gotland (known as Ardre III) 38 (Wilson 1966, pl.txxi) b) Runestone from Stav, Roslagskulle, Uppland (Wilson 1966, pl.Lxxii.