Head of St. John the Baptist on a Dish, Nottingham 15th century

The head of St John the Baptist is represented on a dish supported by a pair of kneeling angels with the Saint's emblem - the Agnus Dei - lying ‘regardant’ with a Holy Cross on its back on the ground between them. Minimal rests of original polychromy (red, dark green) and one part behind the back of the left (from the onlookers point of view) angel still has a larger fragment consisting of dark green background with red and white dots. The cut in the forehead is not a later damage but an inherent part of the sculpture: according to some traditions, Herodias (mother of Salome) hit the head after it had been severed because Saint John had openly disapproved of her marriage with the brother of her first husband.
The Nottingham alabasters with the head of St. John from the Metropolitan Museum and Fitzwilliam museum also have that cut in the forehead. The Amiens cathedral relic also has that cut in the forehead.
Wear, missing tip of right nostril. Otherwise excellent condition regarding its age.
“Heads of St John the Baptist was a speciality of late fifteenth Nottingham alabaster carvers, and there is documentary evidence for their manufacture there. The saint's head is frequently shown on a dish supported by angels, sometimes with the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) an attribute of St John, or Christ as Man of Sorrows below the dish. On other examples the head may surrounded by a group of saints, or have seated figures of saints below, and God the Father above. The panels were sold singly to provide a focus for the private devotions of their owners, and were sometimes housed in a wooden case, with painted doors which were opened while the owner was at prayer. Apart from the importance of St John as a witness of Christ’s divinity, the popularity of this subject reflected the strongly penitential aspect of late Medieval religion, and the piety of the laity, who were encouraged to relive the sufferings of Christ and the Saints while contemplating their images.” (From the Fitzwilliam Museum catalogue)
Dimensions: 25x17x3,5cm

F. Cheetham, English Medieval Alabasters..., Oxford, 1984, no. 245
Cheetham (op.cit) discusses the existence of six variations on the theme of the head of St. John the Baptist known to have been carved at Nottingham in the 15th century; the present relief is 'a more complicated version of type c'. Compare an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in Cheetham (op.cit., no. 245 p. 321)

References:
Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge): Inventory number M.2-2004
Victoria & Albert Museum (London): Inventory Number A.204-1946
Francis Cheetham “English Medieval Alabasters : With a Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Oxford, 1984”
Christie’s “European Sculpture & Works of Art” (Live Auction 12238) Lot 1 ‘An Alabaster Relief of the Head of St. John the Baptist’ (December 6th, 2016) Price realized 50.000 GBP
Metropolitan Museum New York (Object Number: 13.124)