| Summary: | he circular copper-gilt plaque is decorated with a relief of the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John. The dead Christ hangs on the cross beneath the titulus inscribed INRI. The flanking figures stand on pedestals, joined to the cross by curved brackets. The scene is set against a blue enamel background decorated with pastoral staffs and the initials “W C” in Lombardic script. The plaque, and two similar pieces, were bought by the British Museum in 1853, having been found at Shefford, close to the site of Warden Abbey, Bedfordshire. The first of the other plaques is decorated with a mount of the Virgin and Child flanked by enamel shields with the coat of arms azure, three pears, or, heraldry used by Warden Abbey. The second has a mount with a relief of a shield-holding angel. The shield is inscribed with the initials “W C”, each letter surmounted by a crown. Between the initials is a pastoral staff. On the reverse of each of the plaques are fragments of suspension loops.
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