George Speake, is an English art historian and archaeologist. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and "a leading authority on Anglo-Saxon animal art." Currently Speake is the Anglo-Saxon Art and Iconography Specialist for the Staffordshire Hoard conservation team, and is working on the reconstruction of the Staffordshire helmet.

Early life and education

George Speake was educated at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in the 1960s, and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he studied at St John's College and at the Institute of Archaeology, in the 1970s. At Oxford he studied under Christopher and Sonia Hawkes, obtaining a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1974 with a thesis about Anglo-Saxon animal art.

Career

Speake specialises in Anglo-Saxon art and iconography. As of 2016 he is working on the reconstruction of the more than 1,000 pieces of the Staffordshire helmet, following work on the Prittlewell burial, and teaching fine art and art history. In 2014 he coauthored a book on the Staffordshire Hoard, ''Beasts, Birds and Gods: Interpreting the Staffordshire Hoard'', identifying among other characteristics an "eyeless, open-jawed serpent" depicted on the helmet's cheek guard. A paper on the helmet is due to be published in 2018. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at Oxford. Speake's 1980 work ''Anglo-Saxon Animal Art and its Germanic Background'', written as the basis for his Ph.D., is considered "a major break-through in Anglo-Saxon style studies". It provided a comprehensive look at " style II" art, the form of zoomorphic decoration used in Northern Europe from the middle of the sixth century AD to the end of the seventh. Hitherto the least understood style of Anglo-Saxon and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n animal art, style II is thought to have been reserved for the upper classes and is found prominently on the objects found in the Sutton Hoo ship-burial and in the

Vendel Vendel is a village at Tierp Municipality in Uppland, Sweden. The village overlooks Vendelsjön, a long inland stretch of water near the Vendel river which has its confluence with the river Fyris. Vendel was the site of an ancient royal estate, ...

boat graves. Speake's work was credited with discussing every known example of the style through 1974—the date of his Ph.D.—and with proving that it was introduced to England from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

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, and Sweden.

Publications

* * * * * * * * * * Speake, George. ''Aspects of the Staffordshire Hoard Helmet'' (forthcoming).

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Speake, George Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Germanic studies scholars English archaeologists English art historians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Alumni of the University of Oxford Anglo-Saxon studies scholars