{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O108488"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108488/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7765/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7765/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AC7765","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O108488/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O108488","accessionNumber":"1099-1905","objectType":"Cross","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Crosses have always played an important role in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as symbols of resurrection and life. 'Hand' or 'blessing' crosses ('yaedj masqal' or 'yaburake masqal') like this one represent the office of an ordained priest, and are his personal possession. They are used by him to bless believers at any place and at any time. The distinctive shape of these crosses arguably symbolises the connection made in the New Testament Book of Romans between Adam (the first man, who brought sin to all mankind), and Christ (whose sacrifice on the cross redeems all mankind). The rectangular base of the hand-cross would therefore represent Adam's tomb, on which the cross of Christ was said to have been planted. It has also been suggested that the rectangular base is a reference to the form of the chest which contained the stone tablets of the law given by God to Moses, the Ark of the Covenant. \n\nThis example, unusually, has an inscription in Ge'ez that reveals it was originally a gift. In 1868, however, a priest at the Chelicut church sold it to the artist and journalist William Simpson for three dollars (as Simpson recalled in his diary). He added his name and the year he acquired the piece, and also engraved a translation of the original inscription on the reverse. Simpson was a watercolour artist and journalist who was sent by the <i>Illustrated London News </i>to cover the British expedition to Ethiopia in 1868.\n\nSimpson arrived too late to witness the single week of military action at Arogee and Maqdala in April 1868; instead, he produced sketches and illustrations of Ethiopia and its people which were a key part of the visual representation of the conflict and the country. On his return to England, he published additional articles on the architecture and traditions of the Ethiopian Church. His observations included a discussion of the different types of cross in the Ethiopian Church, and in an article for <u>The Architectural Review</u> he included a line drawing of this brass hand cross. Simpson seems to have found this example especially interesting both because of its large size and because when he purchased it the cross was still wrapped with a strip of cloth, 'blue in colour, old, ragged, and frayed at the ends'. Such cloths, he observed, were a feature of Ethiopian religious ceremony: 'during the Consecration ceremony [Ethiopian] crosses have a long stripe of cloth attached to them which is passed around the stem of the cross, through the spaces on the sides and the ends hang down to near the ground'. Simpson died in 1899, and in 1905 his widow presented this cross, another Ethiopian one (V&amp;A 1098-1905), and portfolios of Simpson’s artwork from India together with his scrap-book on crosses and their symbolism, to the V&A. The cloth attached to this cross which Simpson described is not recorded when it was presented to the Museum.","physicalDescription":"Hand cross of brass. A cross pattee with openwork triangular ornaments on the four outer sides. The handle terminating in a square tablet inscribed in Ge'ez \"Cross belonging to Walata Tsion having been given by her to the Church of Tsion that it may become to her a guide to Heaven\". The cross is also inscribed, in English, 'ABYSSINIAN CROSS 1868 WILLIAM SIMPSON'.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"brass","id":"AAT10946"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Brass","categories":[{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006AC7765"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"022","id":"THES407956"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Cross","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ethiopia","id":"x35090"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"before 1868","earliest":null,"latest":"1867-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"1098-1905","id":"O144722"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs M. E. Simpson","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"13.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"(at widest point)","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"ዘወለተ ጽዮን ዘወሀበት ለጽዮን ከመ ትኵና መርሐ ለመንግሥተ ሰማያት","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Cross belonging to Walata Tsion, having been given by her to the church of Tsion, that it may become to her a guide to Heaven.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Engraved in Ge'ez on the front of the cross, at the base.\r\n\r\nThe translation of the Ge'ez was made by the Rev. Mr Rodwell, of St Ethelburga, and was published by Simpson in his 'Abyssinian Churches [...] Part  Three: Concluded', The Architectural Review, 4 (June - November 1898), pp. 54-61 (p. 58)."},{"content":"Engraved in English on the back of the cross, on the upper arm of the cross:\r\n'Abyssinian Cross  / 1868' \nBelow, across the horizontal arms of the cross: 'William Simpson'\nEngraved, in English, at the base of the cross, a translation of the Amharic inscription on the other side:\n'Cross belonging to Walata Tsion [ie. 'the Daughter of Zion'], having been given by her to the church of Tsion [a church or person], that it may become to her a guide to Heaven'.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Dedicated or given to a church by 'Walatta Tsion' (daugher of Tsion), Ethiopia, date unknown. Purchased by William Simpson from a church at Chelicut, Ethiopia, in May 1868; given to the V&amp;A by Mrs Maria Simpson, 18 November 1905.\n\nThis cross is engraved with the name of the artist and journalist William Simpson, who acquired it from a priest at Chelicut, Ethiopia.\n\nSimpson was sent to Ethiopia on behalf of the <i>Illustrated London News</i> to provide sketches for the newspaper's coverage of the 1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia. This was a pivotal episode in both British and Ethiopian history that culminated in the death of Emperor Tewodros II (often referred to in Britain as 'Theodore'), the destruction of his fortress at Maqdala, and the looting of vast quantities of Ethiopian material culture by the British Army.\n\nSimpson did not travel on the outward expeiditon, and joined the army around a week after the looting of Maqdala in April 1868. He then accompanied the army on the return march to Britain. He produced sketches and illustrations of Ethiopia and its people which were a key part of the visual representation of the conflict and the country. \n\nSimpson's entry for May 15 1868 in his diary of his time in Ethiopia records how he came to purchase the cross after a visit to the important church at Chelicut: 'When I was leaving the place my Abyssinian attendant beckoned me into a house close to the church. Here I found a little stout man [....] beside whom I was requested to sit. I was told he was the <i>Alika</i> and one of the priests used the word 'Episcopus' [...]. One of them had a cross in his hand and about half an hour before when he was asked its price he held up all the fingers of his hands to express the number of dollars. It was now offered to me for three, and accepted. [...] There is an inscription in Amharic on the cross I bought which is characteristic of the religious feelings of the country'.\n\nOn his return to England, he published additional articles on the architecture and traditions of the Ethiopian Church. His observations included a discussion of the different types of cross in the Ethiopian Church, and in an article for <u>The Architectural Review</u> he included a line drawing of this brass hand cross. Simpson seems to have found this example especially interesting both because of its large size and because when he purchased it the cross was still wrapped with a strip of cloth, 'blue in colour, old, ragged, and frayed at the ends'. Such cloths, he observed, were a feature of Ethiopian religious ceremony: 'during the Consecration ceremony [Ethiopian] crosses have a long stripe of cloth attached to them which is passed around the stem of the cross, through the spaces on the sides and the ends hang down to near the ground'. \n\nSimpson died in 1899, and on 18 November 1905 the cross was presented to the Museum by his widow, Mrs Maria Eliza Simpson [née Burt] of Birsay, Wellington Road, Hatch End, Middlesex. The Museum register describes it as a 'Hand cross of brass. From Chelikut. A cross pattee with openwork triangular ornaments on the four outer sides. The handle terminating in a square tablet inscribed \"Cross belonging to Walata Tsion having been given by her to the Church of Tsion that it may become to her a guide to Heaven\". The cross is inscribed ABYSSINIAN CROSS 1868 WILLIAM SIMPSON. Abyssinian; dated 1868'.\n\nMrs Simpson also presented another Ethiopian cross (V&amp;A 1098-1905), and portfolios of Simpson’s artwork from India together with his scrap-book on crosses and their symbolism, to the V&amp;A. The cloth attached to this cross which Simpson described is not recorded when it was presented to the Museum.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Hand cross of brass, Ethiopia, before 1868.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Simpson, William. 'Abyssinian Churches [...] Part Three: Concluded'. <u>The Architectural Review</u>, 4 (June - November, 1898), pp. 54-61"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Feleke, memhir Daniel Seifemichael. 'Crosses'. In: <u>Ethiopian Church: Treasures &  Faith</u>. Paris: Archange minotaure, 2009, pp. 73-77. ISBN 9782354630447"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Delia Millar, ‘Simpson, William (1823–1899)’, <u>Oxford Dictionary of National  Biography</u>, Oxford University Press, 2004,\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20221215144208/https://www.oxforddnb.com/%20view/article/25597"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pankhurst, Richard, ed. <u>Diary of a Journey to Abyssinia, 1868, with the expedition  under Sir Robert Napier, K.C.S.I.: The Diary and Observations of William Simpson  of the Illustrated London News </u>. (Based on the manuscript in the collection of  Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf, Chestnut Hill, Mass., USA). Hollywood, CA: Tsehai  Publishers, 2002. ISBN 097231721x"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Watson Jones, Alexandra, “British Collecting in Ethiopia, 1769 to 1972: Travellers, Military Expeditions, Museums and Royal Gifting ” (PhD thesis, University of St Andrews, 2024), https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/29946, 155-168"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[{"text":"1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia (1/10/1867 - 13/5/1868)","id":"AUTH407033"}],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Hand crosses are carried by priests as a sign of office. During the Liturgy, the priest makes the blessing with his cross held in his right hand. With his left hand, he touches the altar. In processions through the streets, the priest stops to bless believers. He places the hand cross on their foreheads, mouths and cheeks, saying, 'God bless you. May He make your countenance shine.'","date":{"text":"6 September 2010","earliest":"2010-09-06","latest":"2010-09-06"}},{"text":"<i>Maqdala 1868</i> display, 5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019\r\n\r\nHand crosses\r\nየእጅ መስቀሎች\n\r\nEthiopian priests carry hand crosses like these and offer them to worshippers to kiss as a sign of devotion. Two of these examples were collected in Ethiopia by Captain Tristram Speedy, a British Army officer who was later appointed guardian to Emperor Tewodros’s orphaned son, Prince Alemayehu. The others were purchased by William Simpson, a war artist who provided sketches of the campaign for the Illustrated London News, as a souvenir during the army’s return journey to England.\n\r\nHand cross የእጅ መስቀል\r\nMade in Ethiopia, before 1868\r\nBrass\r\nGiven by Mrs M.E. Simpson\r\nMuseum no. 1099-1905\n\n<i>Owned and used by every Orthodox Christian priest to date, it gives me great pride and pleasure knowing the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians have been able to retain their heritage. The unique design of the cross from northern Ethiopia is greatly integrated throughout Ethiopian culture.</i>\n\r\n- Samuel Berhanu, artist and member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church\n","date":{"text":"5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019","earliest":"2018-04-05","latest":"2019-06-30"}}],"partNumbers":["1099-1905"],"accessionNumberNum":"1099","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1905,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-26","recordCreationDate":"2005-01-12","availableToBook":true}}