Carving of an animal in jet

This well-carved fragment was found by Lady Aileen Fox during excavations in Bear Street in 1953. The head, neck and mane of an animal are represented, probably of a tiger or panther. The object from which it comes may have been a knife-handle. The material from which this is carved is almost certainly jet, a material which occurs naturally in Britain only around Whitby on the north Yorkshire coast. The piece illustrates the quite long-distance movement of specialist materials or objects.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum