King Alfred's amulet
Date
28 April 1699
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p105a
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (page): 160mm
width (page): 102mm
width (page): 102mm
Subject
Description
Engraving of King Alfred's amulet from William Musgrave's paper, ‘Concerning a piece of antiquity lately found in Somersetshire’, printed in Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society, vol. 20, no. 247 (December 1698). Musgrave supplied further details and drawings of this object in a letter dated 28 April 1699, which was copied into this Letter Book and included the illustration from Philosophical Transactions with added lettering to indicate its length, (AB) 2.44 inches, and width, (CD) 1.20 inches.
Object history
Illustration (fig. 4) for W. Musgrave, ‘Concerning a piece of antiquity lately found in Somersetshire’, Phil. Trans. vol. 20, no. 247 (December 1698), p. 441, which prints the extract of the letter from William Musgrave to Hans Sloane dated 10 December 1698: ‘’Tis of the same length and breadth with the figure: the work very fine; so as to make some men question its true Age: But in all probability, it did belong to that great King, it is so well represented in the Figure, that a short Description will suffice. The edge is thin, as far as the letters. The letters are on the plane rising obliquely. All within the inner pyramidal line is on a plane equi-distant from the reverse. The representation (in that upper plane) seems to be of some person in a chair. It is in enamel, cover’d over with a crystal; which is secured in its place by the little leaves coming over its edges. In the reverse are flowers engraved. The whole piece may be of the weight of three guineas. The crystal and enamel excepted, it is all of pure gold’.
Related fellows
William Musgrave (1735 - 1800, British) , Physician
Associated place