Alfred Jewel

The Alfred Jewel was found in Somerset in 1693, but was created during the reign of King Alfred the Great (r. 871–899). The inscription around the sides reads 'AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN' meaning 'Alfred ordered me to be made'.
Found a few miles from Athelny Abbey, this relic is most likely the head of an aestel - a pointing device used to assist reading - and would have had a wooden or ivory pointed stick which I have included in some of the renders.

I wanted to sculpt this as accurately as possible, with the entire project taking 4 days to create, sculpting and modelling in Blender, and texturing in Adobe Substance Painter. The ornate inlay inside the stone is just a photograph 2d plane.