Papil Description of stone
Event ID 1014997
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1014997
Papil 2, Monks Stone (St Laurence), West Burra, Shetland, shrine panel
Measurements: H 0.53m-0.57m, W 1.10m, D 0.06m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: HU 3688 3148
Present location: Shetland Museum, Lerwick (ARC 6634)
Evidence for discovery: found buried upright during grave-digging in 1943 in St Laurence’s graveyard.
Present condition: some damage to the upper edge where the frame is missing, and some flaking, and the carving is a little worn.
Description
This rectangular panel has lateral tenons extending from just below the top (face E) to just above the point at which the carved area on face A finishes. There is a plain flatband border of varying widths around the top and sides of this decorative area, which is itself carved in low relief by means of pecking the background around the design. Filling the height of the frame at the left-hand end is a free-standing cross on a rectangular base, with slightly expanded arms and a ring of spirals at the centre of the cross-head, enclosing a central boss. Beside the cross-base and running along the foot of the carved area is a row of continuous double spirals, arranged in four and a half pairs. There is a single pellet at the upper junction of the first two pairs. On top of the row of spirals a procession of monks walks towards the cross, four on foot and one mounted on a pony. Each of the monks on foot is wearing a long hooded cloak and carries a hooked staff in his left hand. Their facial features are detailed, and the monk on the pony appears to be an old man with his cloak bunched around him leaving his visible leg free. Other details include the bridle on the pony, and certainly the last monk and his colleague third from the left are wearing book satchels over their cloaks.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: Moar & Stewart 1944, no 1; Thomas 1973, no 23: Stevenson 1981, 288-9; Scott & Ritchie 2009, no 30
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
