Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens

This magnificent seals (?) head, is dated to the eighth century and is said to be the one of two terminasl of the head of a chair or seat. The AS Corpus record it as Monkwearmouth 16. It was found in 1969 in the foundations of a modern wall in Hallgarth Square, which was built on top of a medieval and Saxon wall line. The carving is 3D and the museum information sign includes a picture of a chair with similar terminals on its back panel, from an illustrated manuscript which dates from AD750.