Figure of Christ

This small, crude figurine is a rare example of religious metalwork from the twelfth or thirteenth century.  It may have been used in Cruddleton Church, a small chapel built in the early 1100s for nearby Cruggleton Castle.  The church was restored in the 1890s for the Marquis of Bute but still contains a substantial amount of medieval masonry.   A figure of Christ is shown in a crucifixion position.  Crudely modelled, it is long and thin in profile but details survive of the loincloth and some musculature is also shown.  The rear is flat, suggesting the figure was attached to another object, perhaps a wooden crucifix.  A curious feature is the collar or flange on each side at the the shoulder or neck.