Attribution
Unknown

Reverse
Carved in the round.

Object Condition
Missing: part of the upper foliated frieze. Chipped leaf. Large crack below on base, crack at lower edge on other side, cracks in the frieze, some discolouration.
A plug apparently of resin and wood shavings has been inserted into the base to consolidate the piece.

Comments
According to Glen (2003), this piece could be part of the same set as a bishop now in the Vatican (64679). The heraldry and the shape of the shield indicate a date around the middle of the 13th century at the earliest.

Provenance
May have belonged to a member of the Montgomery family (see Glen 2003 for a development of this argument). Collection of Lord MacDonald of Skye; donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in November 1782.

Bibliography
A. Way, 'Ancient Chessmen with Some Remark on Their Value as Illustrations of Medieval Costume', in Archaeological Journal III (1846), no. 241.
D. Wilson, Synopsis of the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1849), p. 99.
J. A. Smith, 'Notice of Bronze relics found in the Isle of Skye', in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland III (1862), pp. 104-105.
W. Smellie, Account of the Institution and Progress of the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1782), pp. 71-2.
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), no. 819 ('73.306).
A . Goldschmidt, Die Elfenbeinskulpturen aus der romanischen Zeit (Berlin, 1926), IV, no. 257.
H. Nickel, 'Sir Gawayne and the Three White Knights', in Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 28 (December 1969), pp. 174-182 (pp. 174-175, fig. 3).
Angels, Nobles and Unicorns. Art and Patronage in Medieval Scotland: a Handbook Published in Conjunction with an Exhibition Held at the National Museum of Scotland, 12 August 12-26 September 1982, no. B43, p. 28.
V. Glenn, Romanesque and Gothic Decorative Metalwork and Ivory Carvings in the Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh, 2003), no. L2, pp. 178-181 (with figs).
J. Warren, Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, 3 vols (Oxford, 2014), Vol. 2: Sculptures in Stone, Clay, Ivory, Bone and Wood, p. 549, in relation to no. 156.