the probability of their being of native workmanship. Two of them are 434 inches in diameter; on one is the Virgin and Child in high relief, under a canopy in gilt metal, the back ground of red enamel, charged with the arms of Wardon Abbey, az. 3 pears or,; on the other is a crucifix between St. Mary and St. John, who are standing on brackets springing from the foot of the cross: the ground of this is of blue enamel, and on it are two croziers and the letters W. C. Both these medallions have a pierced border of gilt metal composed of angels. The third medallion is 412 inches in diameter; in the centre is an angel in high relief, issuing from clouds, which are partly in relief and partly represented on the plate by blue and white enamel. He holds before his breast a silver shield, on which is a crozier between the letters W. C. The border is composed of Tudor flowers, four of which project beyond the others. The letters on these medallions probably indicate the name of the abbot under whose superintendence, or at whose expense, the shrine to which they may have belonged, was executed. The list of the Abbots of Wardon is too imperfect to enable us to identify this personage. The workmanship appears to belong to the latter half of the fifteenth century.
To a similar school of art and same period must be referred another recent acquisition; a processional cross said to have been found at Glastonbury Abbey. It is of gilt metal with a crucifix between St. Mary and St. John on brackets. Several crosses of a like character have been discovered in various parts of England and Ireland.
Another object to be noticed, is a very curious astrolabe presented to the Museum by Mr. Mayer, F.S.A., of Liverpool. It is of especial interest as it bears the inscription, Blakene me fecit anno domini, 1342. It is covered with Arabic numerals, and was evidently made for English latitudes. The collection of instruments for ascertaining time by the heavenly bodies has been further increased by three viatoria or pocket sun-dials; one found in the river Crane at Isleworth and presented by Mr. H. C. Pidgeon; another of German workmanship, presented by Mr. M. Rohde Hawkins; and a third made by C. Whitwell, which has been purchased.
Among other acquisitions, the following should be mentioned;—a gourd-shaped bottle[1] found at Newbury, in
- ↑ Similar to one engraved in Journ. of Arch. Assoc. v. 28.
