Once enclosed within an ivory or perhaps silver tabernacle, this ivory statuette of the Virgin and Child is a rare surviving example from 13th-century England. It was used as a personal devotional object, the statues were made at a time when the cult of the Virgin had reached its peak of popularity. The composition emphasizes the reciprocal tenderness between the mother and child: the Virgin turns slightly to her left to face the now-missing infant Christ. The rich, reddish brown surface may be the result of staining with walnut oil or some other agent.

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