1985.52.762

Collection type

Object

Description

Amulet, enamel pendant with a painted figure on a horse holding a bird and an inscription on reverse, in a metal frame with a loop for suspension. [RB 04/04/2012]

Long description

Amulet, enamel pendant with a painted figure on a horse holding a bird and an inscription on reverse, in a metal frame with a loop for suspension. A translation of the inscription on the reverse of the pendant reads: 'Icon of the Martyr Tryphon with the hawk'. [RB 17/05/2012]

Geographical reference

Russia

Europe > Eastern Europe > Russia

Person

Field collector R. Volkow

PRM source Wellcome Institute

PRM source Wellcome Historical Medical Museum

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1931

Date collected

By 1931

Acquisition information

Transferred: 1985

Materials and processes

Material Copper Alloy Metal, Material Enamel, Material Pigment, Process Enamelled, Process Painted, Process Inscribed

Dimensions

Length x Width: max 32 x 26 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1985.52.762 Other numbers: 1463

Research and responses

A translation of the inscription on the reverse of the pendant reads: 'Icon of the Martyr Tryphon with the hawk'. The translation was provided by Fr Stephen Platt, from the Russian Orthodox Parish of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, Oxford. He also provided the following information: 'The objects are enamel Orthodox icon medallions, common in Russia especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They were popular especially with travellers and soldiers, and often they were worn around the neck, together with the baptismal cross, or pinned to a shirt of similar. Sometimes they were of the particular person's patron saint.' [RB 17/05/2012]

Associated publications

This amulet was selected for the Small Blessings project website [http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets], online text as follows: Orthodox icon medallions were popular amongst travellers and soldiers in 19th- and early 20th-century Russia. They were often worn on a chain or leather cord around the neck together with a baptismal cross, or pinned to a shirt, and sometimes depicted the wearerʼs patron saint. The painting on this medallion depicts the Martyr Tryphon riding a white horse with a falcon resting on his hand. Tryphon was born in Phrygia, a district in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). He was believed to have been blessed with holy powers which could cast out evil spirits and heal people. Like other early Christians in the Roman Empire he was tortured and killed for his faith, and his death is recorded in the city of Nicea in AD 250. Saint Tryphon is venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church as the heavenly protector of Moscow. He is believed to have saved crops from a plague of locusts, and is invoked to protect gardens from insects and pests. Saint Tryphon is also the patron saint of birds and is often depicted holding a falcon, in reference to a story in which he saves the life of a falconer. According to this story, Tsar Ivan the Terrible was out hunting one day when his favourite falcon flew away. His falconer, Tryphon Patrikeiev, was threatened with death and ordered to find the bird within three days. Tryphon searched the forest but he could not find the falcon. Exhausted, he lay down and prayed to his patron saint, Tryphon, for help. The falconer fell asleep and he dreamt of a man on a white horse, holding the Tsarʼs falcon on his hand. When he woke, Tryphon spotted the falcon in a pine tree nearby, and both man and bird returned home safely. [CB 29/08/2012]

Search terms: Religion, Ornament, Figure, Writing, Amulet, Pendant, Neck Ornament, Bird Figure, Inscription, Religious Object