Bowleaze Jewel

Acquisition of an Anglo-Saxon gold and blue glass jewel. Gold fitting decorated with a blue glass setting, beaded wire and granulation. It is probably from a manuscript pointer, an implement used to guide the eye along the lines of text, for instance, in a teaching context. The slender socket would have held a short rod of wood or ivory. Fittings of this kind (three others are known) seem to be associated with the religious and educational reforms initiated by Alfred the Great (AD871-899). The most elaborate of these, the Alfred Jewel, bears an inscription stating that Alfred ordered it to be made. Anglo-Saxon, late 9th century AD, found at Bowleaze Cove, near Weymouth, Dorset.