Found hidden under chancel floors, they reveal how the Reformation in England destroyed cherished liturgical and devotional objects originating in Limoges

I have always been fascinated by the vivid colours of enamels. The addition of powdered glass of different colours on to copper-alloy surfaces, and their firing at a very high temperature, transforms these decorative pieces of craftsmanship. Their colours are vibrant and permanent: the fused glass keeps its hues for ever.

The most productive European centre of enamel-making from about 1150 was Limoges, in south-western France. Its enamels are distinctive for their brilliant shades of blue, and stylised rosettes in green, yellow, blue and red, as seen for example in a Gospel cover once owned by a Catholic priest, Benedict Rayment (1764-1842), for three decades the resident missioner in York. But the more I learnt about Limoges enamels sur viving from medieval England, an unexpected and disturbing story began to emerge.

Limoges enamels have been found all over Europe and beyond, but Anglo-Norman England was a crucial early market for them. Limoges was in Aquitaine, and from 1152 this was under English rule, thanks to the marriage of Henry II of England (1154-89) to the heiress Eleanor of Aquitaine. The most splendid sur viving example of Limoges work in England is a royal tomb in Westminster Abbey: that of Edward I’s cousin, William de Valence (d. 1296). Nothing is known of its cost or its maker, but it probably resembles a docu mented Limoges enamel tomb made for Walter de Merton, Lord Chancellor of England, founder of Merton College in Oxford and Bishop of Rochester (d. 1277). This is known to have been commissioned from Master John of Limoges, who was paid £4, plus travel costs, to bring it from Limoges to Rochester Cathedral.

Walter de Merton’s tomb was destroyed at the time of the Reformation. Of the few other documented instances of royal expenditure on Limoges enamels, none survives. Several English ecclesiastics are known to have been owners of such enamels, especially as donors to churches such as St Paul’s Cathedral and Rochester Cathedral Priory. Described as “work of Limoges”, these gifts consisted of coffers, candlesticks, basins and Gospel covers.

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