File:Copper alloy figure of st John from a medieval altar cross (FindID 137217).jpg

English: Complete cast copper alloy figurine of St John. The figure is sub rectangular in plan and section (having more or less straight sides). It is shown standing with the head raised and unbowed. The head is oval in shape and is moulded with a bowl hairstyle, with radiating incised lines adding texture and detail to the hair. There is no hole in the top of the head to take a separate nimbus. The face is shown clean shaven (an attribute associated with St John) with a flattened triangular nose and incised mouth and lentoid eyes. The ears are not rendered. The figure is robed or cloaked, with the drapes expressed through three vertical lines to the rear and diagonal lines to the front of the upper and lower body to show drapes across the body. Three vertical lines at the shoulder express the folds here. A raised circular line around the neck indicates the collar. The arms are shortened and stylised rather than a life-like rendering. The right arm is raised to the shoulder with the right palm facing forwards in blessing. The left arm holds the bible (another symbol associated with St John) with the rear of the left hand visible to the front of the book. Both hands are simply rendered with incised lines, though the right hand has a raised moulded thumb. The figure stands atop an integral triangular shank or tang, rectangular in section (the same width as the figure) that tapers from the bottom of the figure's cloak. This is decorated around its upper circumference with two horizontal grooved lines. The shank terminates in a blunt, squared-off point which is probably a break point. It is likely that the shank then narrowed into a double angled arm, in that it continued for a short distance before turning horizontally at 90 degrees. After another distance, the arm would then have turned down at 90 degrees to meet with a slot on an altar cross support.The break edge is worn suggesting damage occurred in antiquity. The object is abraded and the exposed copper alloy surfaces are a mottled dark and mid green. Significant amounts of gilt survive to the front and rear of the figure.

Philip Wise (2006, A re-assessment of the figures of the Virgin and St John from medieval crucifixion groups, forthcoming) explains that such figures are from a crucifixion group, comprising figures of the Virgin Mary and St John standing on either side of Christ, that once formed part of a processional or altar cross. In complete examples, the processional cross is actually formed of four parts: a lower section with a knop, one end of which fitted onto a wooden stave and the other of branched form with three slots to take the central crucifix and the left and right supporters; the crucifix itself with Christ on a cross whose arms terminate in roundels bearing the symbols of the four evangelists; the left supporter (as viewed from the front) or Virgin Mary on a double right-angled arm ending in a tapering tang and the right supporter or St John mounted on a similar arrangement. Alternatively when assembled as an altar cross it would have had a six-lobed base surmounted by a dome, upon which a small crown would have acted as the seating for the shaft of the cross and the supporting figures. Wise suggests that figures of St John fall within two categories, those being 'refined' and 'crude' figures. The figure recorded here falls within the 'refined' group.

Wise comments that of recently discovered 'refined' gilt-bronze figures of St John there are four which are remarkably similar. These are from Marks Tey (Colchester Museums accession number COLEM: 2002.154), Rainham, Greater London (Portable Antiquities Scheme record ESS-5CD8F0), the Isle of Sheppey, Kent (British Museum catalogue number MME 1991.5-5.1) and an unprovenanced find sold at Christies in 2003 (July 4 1991 (lot 25) and again on 12 December 2003 (lot 127). The figure recorded here also fits within this group. It is particularly similar to the Marks Tey and Rainham figures. Wise suggests they are all of English manufacture and argues for a date in the late 14th century. It seems very likely that they were products of the same workshop, possibly located in London. It is possible that there was an original design by an accomplished artist, who may have been a goldsmith. There is documentary evidence that goldsmiths could make base metal items for church use at this period (see C. Oman, 'English Medieval Base Metal Church Plate', Archaeological Journal CXIX (1962), 200, note 1, 195). 'Crude' figures of St John (examples of which are Portable Antiquities Scheme records KENT3393 and SF-D33492) date to the 15th century. Wise explains that finds such as the figure recorded here and the Marks Tey figure are clearly in what is called the International Gothic Style, which flourished in painting and sculpture across a large part of Europe from around 1380 onwards. This is characterised by the powerful modelling of the face and the intricate delineated treatment of the drapery. There were many foreign craftsmen at work in London at this time, and they influenced English artists and metalworkers. Such foreign craftsmen came from Italy, the Low Countries and probably Bohemia, as a result of the influence of Richard II's queen, Anne. The figure recorded here is an example of this continental court style spreading out from the capital into the provinces.

The figure is 82.58mm long in total, of which 11.84mm is the head and 15.48mm is the triangular shank. The figure is 16.74mm wide, 12.88mm thick and weighs 84.68g.