London 1971
Fully Hallmarked Silver
Britannia Standard (958)
Height: 32 cm
Width: 20 cm
Weight: 79 oz (without wrought iron mount)
This can be wall mounted with the removeable wrought iron mount that Osman made for it.
The red sun would have been enamelled by his wife Dilys.
This was exhibited at the exhibition Osman held at Canons Ashby where he lived and worked in May 1974
The catalogue entry for this unique piece reads:
The womb form is of heavy forged Britannia silver lined with thin crumpled fine gold sheet, as is the natural wood Cross. The abstract suggestion of the crucifix figure is built up of stone-age African obsidian artefacts and Cruelty, the Crown of Thorns and Christ's wounds symbolised by lion's claws from Ethiopia.At the head of the crucifix is the red sun, symbol of Christ, and at the foot the pale moon, symbol of the Virgin Mary. 'The woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet'.
The woman who commissioned this was a friend of Osman and during her stay in Ethiopia collected obsidian and shed lions claws which she brought back for him to work with.
The Victoria & Albert Museum have another piece made by Osman with an African theme.
Click this link:
Cup and Cover | Osman, Dilys | Osman, Louis | V&A Explore The Collections (vam.ac.uk)
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