The Franks Casket (Object in Focus)

This concise; beautifully illustrated guide explores the enigmatic Franks Casket; carved from whalebone in 8th century northern England; and decorated with scenes from tales both pagan and Christian; as well as runic inscriptions. Leslie Webster helps the general reader to make sense of its iconography and meaning; the processes of its manufacture; and its somewhat confused history - it was rediscovered in modern times in France; whilst one panel remains in Florence.

Leslie Webster is Keeper Emerita of the British Museum’s Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, and former Senior Curator of the Early Medieval Collections; she is also currently Visiting Professor at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. She lectures and publishes widely on Anglo-Saxon art and archaeology, and has curated major exhibitions on Anglo-Saxon and Insular themes. Her most recent book is Anglo-Saxon Art: a New History (British Museum 2016).