Antique Russian Authentic Crucifix Mother of Pearl 18C Carved Altar Cross Unique
General Information
Featured in this auction is an impressive and unique European Mother of Pearl Crucifix, made in the 18th Century. The Altar Crucifixion is in almost perfect condition (given its age). Please take a close look at the photos as they are an important element in the description of the item. The mother of pearl details are carved by hand with a chisel. This is a unique collectible item. Bid with confidence. The Mother of Pearl appliques are mounted on an old solid wood base which has a nice solid sound and is free of worms and insects. Please note that the physical colors of this item may vary from the pictures in the listing, given the quality of the camera, the lighting and the background used.
Detailed Description
This is an Unique Antique Russian Handmade Encrusted Pearl Christs Crucifix Home Altar XVIII Century. The item is from our private collection. I can say that its origin is from "Gods Places". The creator of this item is unknown, but blessed with gods hands. The cross represents Christs Crucifix and some of the Bible chronicles I believe. The whole item is an amazing Handwork. It is made of many engraved Pearl pieces which are glued in a special way called "Bone Tutkal". This "tutkal" method is used by special prepared bones combined with other materials. Remarkable is that the pear work is done by a chisel. The cross has been Restored, a very few pieces had to be glued back - please look at the pictures. After I showed the cross to a priest at the Famous Rila Monastery ( located in Bulgaria Click for Wikipedia ), I was told the following story: There was a priest that they had long time ago which had created a similar work on wood just using a chisel, he worked 5 years on it and after finishing it lost 50% of his vision ability according to the story. I cant say if the story I was told is real, but just wanted to share it as information. The item is dated XVIII Century by its document. The document is original, you can take a look at it on the pictures. The item is highly collectible. Every Image is unique handmade by a chisel. The back side of the Cross is made of old wood. I took detailed pictures of every detail it has. The Chronicle Images on the cross are unique, presenting Christ Crucifixion in the middle surrounded by angels and Virgin Mary underneath him, 2 more crucifixions from left and right, between them 2 saints or angels and other details images located at the base and sides - please look at the pictures. The wooden back side of it is carved by hand.
Size
It measures 54,5cm height without the stand (the wooden legs) on which it is standing.It is 47cm width at its widest point. The side crosses (just the crosses without the pearl base) measure 30cm high and 18cm width. The middle cross (without the pearl base) measures 39cm Height and 24 width. The pearl base (without the 3 crosses which are above) measures 37cm width and 16cm high. You can see the measurements on the pictures.
Document
The item is with its original document which says the date of buying and that it is from a Special Museum in a Bulgarian Town.
Here are details about the document it has: The documents proves that this is an original antique item which was given to the History Museum of Shumen (Bulgaria) on the date of 04.02.2002 by Irina Dimitrova Stoianova to the Museum. The document says that Ancho Stefanov Georgiev accepted this Item for the Museum. Then down in the documents it describes the item: "Christs Crucifix with the 3 crosses and pearls Home Altar XVIII Century. So In general this item was shown in the Historical Museum of Shumen. Later the Museum organized a small Sale of a few of their items. The sale that was made was because of Financial problems it had with their maintenance at the time. So they sold the Cross to the person from which I bought it from. I have an original page of the newsletter from 2002 where they comment about this sale and show pictures of the cross.
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