15th century AD. A bronze processional cross finial with ribbed socket, flanking bird-head motifs and dense block of tendrils and wheels with cross-shaped finials. See a practically identical specimen in the Walters Art Museum, Ethiopian Gallery, accession number 54.2942; for discussion see Di Salvo, M., Le croci Etiopi, Milano, 1976.645 grams, 28.5cm (11 1/4"). Ex central London gallery; formerly in a UK private collection since 197; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no. 10483-170685. The body of this cross is made of a pattern of interlocking circles. The incised lines at the intersection of vertical and horizontal elements create thirteen small crosses out of the interlaced design of the body. Three larger crosses spring forth at the top and terminal ends of the cross, defining the cruciform shape of the entire artefact. The complicated interlace design is visible in Ethiopian manuscript illumination associated with the Stephanite order at the end of the 15th century AD.