Processional cross and base
about 1300-1350 and 1541
Medium/TechniqueRock crystal with gilt-silver mounts; silver base
DimensionsOverall (Cross): 45.1 × 38.9 × 3.6 cm (17 3/4 × 15 5/16 × 1 7/16 in.)
Overall (Base): 25.3 × 23 × 19.7 cm (9 15/16 × 9 1/16 × 7 3/4 in.)
Overall (Base): 25.3 × 23 × 19.7 cm (9 15/16 × 9 1/16 × 7 3/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Professor Peter J. Fergusson
Accession number2022.1858a-b
On View
Not on viewClassificationsRitual objects
Provenance1581, base commissioned by Rodrigo Alonso and Juana Sainz for a monstrance at a church in Ajo, Spain [see note 1]. At an unknown date, base separated from its monstrance and joined with the rock crystal cross. 2014, private collector (d. by 2020) [see note 2]; December 11, 2014 anonymous (private collector) sale, Hampel Fine Art, Munich, lot 218, to Sam Fogg, Ltd., London; 2020, sold by Sam Fogg, Ltd, to Peter J. Fergusson (b. 1934 –d. 2022), Wellesley, MA; 2022, gift of the estate of Peter J. Fergusson to the MFA. (Accession date: October 12, 2022)
NOTES:
[1] The inscription on the base can be roughly translated as "Rodrigo Alonso and his wife Juana Sainz, residents of Ajo, ordered this monstrance made in 1581.” It may have been made for the church of San Martin de Ajo, which was reconstructed and refurbished between about 1578 and 1610, or possibly the church of San Pedro de Sopoyo, which was adorned with frescoes that appear to date to the mid-16th century.
[2] By this date the base and cross had been joined and were sold as one object. The anonymous private collector’s initials were C M, according to Hampel.
NOTES:
[1] The inscription on the base can be roughly translated as "Rodrigo Alonso and his wife Juana Sainz, residents of Ajo, ordered this monstrance made in 1581.” It may have been made for the church of San Martin de Ajo, which was reconstructed and refurbished between about 1578 and 1610, or possibly the church of San Pedro de Sopoyo, which was adorned with frescoes that appear to date to the mid-16th century.
[2] By this date the base and cross had been joined and were sold as one object. The anonymous private collector’s initials were C M, according to Hampel.
about 1410–20
second half of the 16th century
Unidentified
second or third quarter of the 14th century (?)
