Accession number
LDL 001
Date made
15th century AD
Materials
Textile -Rock crystal
Collection
Dimensions (cm)
- H 34.3; Diam. (at base) 20.3
Category
Place of collection
Copyright Attribution
O Dea Mitre | Textile | 15th century AD | The Hunt Collection | PD
Provenance
File of material relating to four objects: the O Dea mitre (LDL 001) and the O Dea crozier (LDL 002) (sometimes referred to as the Limerick mitre and crozier), the Arthur Cross (LDL 003) and the Arthur Chalice (LDL 004), on loan to the Hunt Museum from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick. Includes typescript descriptions of all four objects, probably used in the Hunt Museum (dates unspecified); condition report (date unspecified) by Ruairi Ó Cuiv for the Arthur Chalice and the Arthur Cross; photocopy of paper by John Hunt, Senior, entitled The Limerick Mitre and Crozier (Dublin: Hodges, Figgis and Co., date unspecified); photocopy of souvenir catalogue entitled Treasures of Thomond for exhibition at Limerick Museum (c. November 1980) which contains descriptions of all four objects; photocopy of paper by John Hunt, Senior, entitled The Arthur Cross published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (volume lxxxv, part 1, 1955); photocopy of note by Larry Walsh entitled Two New Limerick Silversmiths published in the North Munster Antiquarian Journal(volume XXXIII, 1991). Notes that the maker of the Arthur Cross was a Limerick silversmith, Philip Lyles; display agreement for all four object, parties to which are the trustees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick and the Hunt Museum (13 February 2004); note (date unspecified) from Mairead Dunlevy, National Museum of Ireland, to Fiona Davern, Registrar, Hunt Museum, enclosing photocopy of extract from Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Mediaeval, Renaissance, and More Recent Periods on Loan at the South Kensington Museum (c. June 1862). Includes descriptions of the Limerick mitre and crozier; photocopy of paper by Raghnall Ó Floinn entitled Ireland Goldsmiths Work of the later Middle Ages published in the Ireland Arts Review (volume 12, 1996). Mentions the Limerick mitre and crozier; paper by Raghnall Ó Floinn entitled Glory and Piety published in the Ireland Arts Review (winter 2003). Relates to the Limerick mitre and crozier; printout from website of the Diocese of Limerick describing the O Dea crozier (18 January 2002); two facsimiles (16 December 1998, 18 December 1998) from Jill Rogers, Needwood Press, 69 Wales Lane, Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire, to Michael Holland, Registrar, Hunt Museum, requesting permission to publish image of the O Dea crozier in forthcoming publication Corpus Silver: Patronage and Plate at Corpus Christi College, Oxford edited by Clive Ellory, Helen Clifford and Foster Rogers; photocopy of extract from The Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagent Europe 1200-1400 which contains image and description of a mitre and crozier held by the New College, Oxford, said to be similar to the O Dea mitre and crozier; note (date unspecified) in the hand of [John Hunt, Senior] which states that the O Dea mitre and crozier were restored in 1961 through the gift of John and Gertrude Hunt and in memory of the late Monsignor Michael Moloney. Note may actually comprise the text of a plaque; letter (1 October 1962) from Henry Murphy, Bishop of Limerick, Kilmoyle, North Circular Road, Limerick, to John Hunt, Senior, thanking him for taking the mitre and crozier to London for repairs; letter (8 October 1962) from C.C. Oman, Keeper of the Department of Metalwork, Victoria and Albert Museum, to John Hunt, Senior. Oman writes that his Director is willing that the objects be repaired in the workshops of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Also that he imagines Hunt will proceed and contact the Goldsmiths Company about providing finance; letter (16 January 1963) from J.F. Dukes, Department of Education, Dublin, to John Hunt, Senior, Drumleck, Baily, county Dublin, enclosing a licence (15 January 1963) to export the mitre and crozier to the care of the Keeper of the Department of Metalwork, Victoria and Albert Museum; letter (4 August 1965) from Henry Murphy, Bishop of Limerick, to John Hunt, Senior, in which he mentions he granted permission to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to exhibit the mitre and crozier for up to three months; letter (8 August 1965) from Charles Oman to John Hunt, Senior, also mentioning he has received permission to exhibit the mitre and crozier for three months and that he will show the drawings made for Bishop Milner next to them (appears to be drawings of the mitre and crozier); another letter (31 July 1965) from Oman to John Hunt, Senior, notes that he has borrowed drawings from the Society of Antiquaries [Bishop Milner drawings]; description (c. August 1965) of the mitre and crozier issued by the Victoria and Albert Museum. It notes that in 1963 arrangements were made to have the crozier repaired at the British Museum and the mitre at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Mentions that a detailed description and drawing [of the mitre and crozier] by the Society of Antiquaries was made in 1808. Now lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum; letter (21 November 1966) from Henry Murphy, Bishop of Limerick, to John Hunt, Senior, in response to a suggestion that the O Dea mitre and crozier be displayed in the new college (unnamed); letter (c. 23 June ) from Robert Wyse Jackson, Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, to John Hunt, Senior, in which he writes that he has written a short descriptive note relating to the mitre and crozier for The Connoisseur magazine.
