GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Pendant crosses have been in use in Ethiopia since at least the 15th century, when Emperor Zara Yacob decreed that all loyal subjects must demonstrate their Christian faith by wearing a cross. In his 16th-century account of the Portuguese Embassy's travels in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia), the priest Francisco Alvares states that all laymen wore small crosses of black wood around their necks. However, the majority of surviving examples of pendant crosses are more recent, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. These later pendant crosses were usually made of Maria Theresa thalers, Austrian silver coins which were a common currency throughout the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa during the 19th century. The coins were melted down and re-cast as pendant crosses through the lost-wax process. Due to the use of the lost-wax process, no two pendant crosses are alike.
Drawn from
- Jacopo Gnisci, "Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview," African Arts 51, no. 4 (Winter 2018): 48–55.
- Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 264-266.
- Csilla Fabo Perczel, "Ethiopian Crosses at the Portland Art Museum," African Arts 14.3 (May 1981): 52-55.
NOTES
Object file reviewed, "skeleton" note for Ethiopian pendant crosses.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Abyssinian (African styles and periods by national designation): AAT: 300312134
Ethiopian Orthodox (Oriental Orthodox): TAA: 300262472
Geography
Ethiopia (nation): TGN 7000489
Horn of Africa (general region): AAT: 7032934
Process/materials
Lost-wax process: AAT: 300053113
silver (metal): AAT: 300011029
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
apotropaic: DMA
Christianity: AAT: 300073711
crosses (motifs): AAT: 300010044
crosses (visual works): AAT: 300235443
religious objects: AAT: 300234098
jewelry: AAT: 300209286
pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002
Latin crosses (crosses): AAT: 300010072
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
By at least 1966: Dr. Kenneth Redden (d. 1998), Charlottesville, Virginia [1]
From 1991: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Hebe Redden and Dr. Kenneth Redden
The main source for this provenance is Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 266. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] Jacopo Gnisci, "Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview," DMA Unpublished material, 1. (Copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Gnisci's research shows that Dr. Kenneth Redden and Dr. Hebe Redden were listed as lenders of three Ethiopian crosses for a 1966 exhibition organized by the Musée Dynamique in Dakar and the Grand Palais in Paris.
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General Description
Pendant crosses have been in use in Ethiopia since at least the 15th century, when Emperor Zara Yacob decreed that all loyal subjects must demonstrate their Christian faith by wearing a cross. In his 16th-century account of the Portuguese Embassy's travels in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia), the priest Francisco Alvares states that all laymen wore small crosses of black wood around their necks. However, the majority of surviving examples of pendant crosses are more recent, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. These later pendant crosses were usually made of Maria Theresa thalers, Austrian silver coins which were a common currency throughout the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa during the 19th century. The coins were melted down and re-cast as pendant crosses through the lost-wax process. Due to the use of the lost-wax process, no two pendant crosses are alike.
Drawn from
- Jacopo Gnisci, "Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview," African Arts 51, no. 4 (Winter 2018): 48–55.
- Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 264-266.
- Csilla Fabo Perczel, "Ethiopian Crosses at the Portland Art Museum," African Arts 14.3 (May 1981): 52-55.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Object file reviewed, "skeleton" note for Ethiopian pendant crosses.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Abyssinian (African styles and periods by national designation): AAT: 300312134
Ethiopian Orthodox (Oriental Orthodox): TAA: 300262472
Geography
Ethiopia (nation): TGN 7000489
Horn of Africa (general region): AAT: 7032934
Process/materials
Lost-wax process: AAT: 300053113
silver (metal): AAT: 300011029
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
apotropaic: DMA
Christianity: AAT: 300073711
crosses (motifs): AAT: 300010044
crosses (visual works): AAT: 300235443
religious objects: AAT: 300234098
jewelry: AAT: 300209286
pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002
Latin crosses (crosses): AAT: 300010072
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
By at least 1966: Dr. Kenneth Redden (d. 1998), Charlottesville, Virginia [1]
From 1991: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Hebe Redden and Dr. Kenneth Redden
The main source for this provenance is Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 266. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] Jacopo Gnisci, "Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview," DMA Unpublished material, 1. (Copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Gnisci's research shows that Dr. Kenneth Redden and Dr. Hebe Redden were listed as lenders of three Ethiopian crosses for a 1966 exhibition organized by the Musée Dynamique in Dakar and the Grand Palais in Paris.
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