Today's Object of the Week is a rare wooden artefact inspired by the story of the crucifixion.
A rare 18th Century Irish Penal Cross is coming up for auction in a North Yorkshire saleroom.
This powerful symbol will be one of the star lots in a 'Country House Sale' at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn, on September 14, with an estimate of £300 to £500 - plus buyer's premium.
Penal Crosses are small, portable devotional artefacts made in Ireland from the early 18th century to the middle of the 19th century.
This was during a period of suppression of Catholicism by a Protestant Parliament through a raft of Penal Laws that restricted employment, land ownership, education and freedom of worship for the Catholic population.
During this period, devout Catholics continued to practice their faith and Penal Crosses are thought to be pilgrim tokens from pilgrimages to Lough Derg in County Donegal, a religious site associated with St Patrick.
Whilst Penal Crosses vary, they are all of a type - carved from one single piece of wood, the crucifixes tend to have short cross bars and the figure of Christ in high relief, often elongated and stylised as in the present example.
Covering the rest of the cross are a range of inscriptions and symbols relating to the Passion of Christ in various combinations.
There is also normally a cockerel, referencing a story from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus that recounted the return home of Judas following his betrayal, when, full of fear that Christ would rise from the dead and punish him, he was intent on killing himself.
At home he found his wife cooking a cockerel. She told him that there was as much chance of Christ rising from the dead as the chicken coming back to life, at which point the cockerel rose up and crowed.
This example in the Tennant's sale is dated 1762, and inscribed on the front with 'INRI', a scourge, a ladder, a cockerel and a cooking pot, and on the reverse with 'IHS', nails and scourges.
Other highlights of the collection include a collection of paintings of hounds, including 'Southwold Deemster', a portrait of a standing hound by George Plaice (1854-1925) with an estimate of £300 to £500 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium), and Foxhound Moving Across a Field by Charles Walter Simpson (1885-1971, estimate £300-500).
A private collection of 15 works by Wensleydale artist Fred Lawson (1888-1968) are also on offer.
Fred Lawson, who born in Leeds where he attended art school, first ventured into Wensleydale in 1910, arriving in Castle Bolton with friend and fellow artist George Graham.
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The month spent in the Dales left a lasting impression, and after returning to Leeds to take up a teaching position, Lawson handed in his notice after two terms and returned to Wensleydale, where he settled in Castle Bolton.
For 58 years Lawson’s fascination with capturing Wensleydale and its people never waned. He continued to walk the hills and dales in all weathers, armed with paint box and paper.
Highlights of the collection include 'Leyburn Fair' (estimate: £400-600) and 'Scarth Nick House, Redmire with the Peacocks Builders' (estimate: £250-400).
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