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Wayland's
Work
Anglo-Saxon Art, Myth & Material Culture from the 4th to the 7th Century
Stephen Pollington Lindsay Kerr Brett Hammond
This book is big in size and scope. Here
you will find new analyisis, images and information about early
English art and the culture that inspired it. Wayland's Work contains
226 black & white drawings and 62 colour plates. Nearly all
of these images were commissioned for this book - many show previously
unpublished artifacts. Nothing on this scale has been achieved
for nearly 100 years. This is the book about the origins and cultural
significance of Anglo-Saxon art.
It has sometimes been suggested that in all the metalwork and
archaeological oddments we have from the Anglo-Saxon period, there
is nothing one could call ‘art’. The contributors
to this book believe that not only was there considerable artistry
in the output of early Anglo-Saxon workshops, but that it was
vigorous, complex and technically challenging.
The designs found on Anglo-Saxon artefacts is never mere ornament:
in a society which used visual and verbal signals to demonstrate
power, authority, status and ethnicity, no visual statement was
ever empty of meaning. The aim of this work is to prompt a better
understanding of Anglo-Saxon art and the society which produced
it.
All three contributors have collaborated on the book with Stephen
Pollington responsible for the text, Lindsay Kerr for the black
and white drawings, and Brett Hammond for (with the exception
of the Staffordshire Hoard) artefact research and colour photography.
Between them they have assembled in these pages much information
and many previously unpublished illustrations which show a wide
variety of artefacts, designs and motifs. It is hoped that this
will help bring about a wider knowledge and appreciation of Anglo-Saxon
art.
226 black & white illustrations - 62 colour plates
Only for delivery to a UK address
£49 hardback ISBN
978 1898281566 30cm x 30cm 544 Pages
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Reviews of Wayland's Work
Drawing on British and European publications
this important book brings together the evidence for Early Medieval
material culture. Well written with excellent illustrations it
should be read by everyone with a serious interest in this fascinating
period.
Dr Kevin Leahy, FSA - National Adviser -
Early Medieval Metalwork
The Portable Antiquities Scheme
Minerva Magazine
Nov/Dec 2010 issue, volume 21 number 6, p.58-9:
minervamagazine.com
Peter Clayton, FSA
The publisher states that the aim of this work is to 'prompt a
better understanding of Anglo-Saxon art and the society which
produced it'. Wayland's Work is substantial, both in its content
and size (30 x 30cms and weighing just over 2kgs), and the question
is, has it achieved its stated aim? First, it must be said, it
is not a book to read through - like any menu, one must be selective
and take it in small or larger portions to one's taste and interest.
After an introduction that discusses 'What is Wayland's Work?',
and the various sources of evidence, the book is divided into
five major sections: 'Barbaric Style', 'Style and Evolution',
'Crafty Smiths', 'Wondrous Works', and 'Reading the Record'. Within
each of these sections are major subdivisions, so that the contents
list is a virtual index. The bibliography and index provided in
the end matter are also valuable. Five appendices cover summaries
of pottery stamps, buckles and wrist clasp typology. A fourth,
a late addition covering taxonomy, features the recently discovered
and much publicised Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and
silver, keeping the book up-to-date.
As the authors rightly point out, Anglo-Saxon art and objects
have, for many years, been the Cinderella of artistic and archaeological
studies - so much that has been written is often available only
in scattered references and publication. The great value of this
book is the wider view and synthesis that the authors have taken
of this field of study, collating a vast range of material into
a single source. Two British Museum exhibitions, 'The Golden Age
of Anglo-Saxon Art' (1984), and 'The Work of Angels. Masterpieces
of Celtic Metalwork, 6th-9th Centuries AD' (1989) opened many
people's eyes to the glories of an art that has been almost derisively
dismissed as of little interest - the work of 'The Dark Ages'.
How wrong they were proved by the success of these two exhibitions,
and now with the publication of this magisterial survey. Whereas
an exhibition catalogue is focused on the material at hand, in
Wayland's Work the myth and the material culture are presented
and explained hand-in-hand, together with the archaeological and
extant literary evidence.
Anglo-Saxon art is especially intricate in the splendid manuscripts
that survive, as well as the metalwork and sculpture. Much of
it has hidden meanings and references that are simply not visible
to the uninitiated, and much still defies interpretation. Close
study of the actual objects, or of good photographs, has made
it possible to bring out new evidence, and also to correct previous
errors and oversights in interpretation. The large series of splendid
detailed line drawings presented in this volume open windows on
aspects not hitherto noticed. This is well brought out in the
specific sections as styles are analysed and placed into context,
the various techniques used are explained, and metal artefacts
are described and examined by type. There is also a review of
non-metallic objects.
It is in Section V, 'Reading the Record', that all these many
threads of interpretation and description are brought together,
the mythology of Britain during this period, and the intricate
designs and compositional elements that include zoomorphic and
anthropomorphic elements, notably in the latter the various male
aspects. The works of earlier authors in this field have been
closely studied and weighed up in view of later finds and developments.
Indeed, the book is built 'on the shoulders of giants', those
who in earlier years ventured into a field that was all too frequently
overlooked or dismissed.
The heading of Section IV, 'Wondrous Works', can well be applied
as a description to this book - it is a wondrous work that will
long be referred to as a ready source of information for the 300
years under consideration. Wayland's Work does indeed fulfil its
stated objective.
Peter A. Clayton, FSA
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