An Ethiopian processional cross

An Ethiopian processional cross
15th century
bronze, the interlaced openwork design framing nine small crosses, with four further to the edges and the terminals with snake-like forms issuing from further crosses, the shaft with snake-like brackets, with incised and punched decoration,
24cm high, 14.5cm wide.

Provenance
Sam Fogg, London.
Private Collection, London.

cf. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, accession numbers 54.2894 and 54.2942.

The snake-like forms seen at the terminals and the brackets are believed to refer to the brazen snake of Moses as described in the Book of Numbers (21:4-9). In the wake of a devastating plague of poisonous snakes, God instructed the Israelites to erect a brass serpent on a pole. Gazing upon this object was believed to cure those bitten, Christians interpreted the brazen serpent as a prefiguration of the redemptive Cross of Christ.