Pearl Margarita ― calligrapher Peter Halliday and his team paint Festival Pig

Festival Pig

Pearl-Margarita, the Lichfield Cathedral decorated pig for the XXXth Lichfield Festival, will soon be seen in Lichfield City and will return for the Pig Auction on the West Front on July 17th at 1pm. Pearl-Margarita will be auctioned with the other 29 pigs from the Festival project and the half of the funds raised from the Cathedral pig will be donated to the East End Appeal.

The Cathedral pig was designed and painted by Peter Halliday, a member of the Cathedral’s ArtReach committee. The committee helps to organize visual art exhibitions in the Cathedral. Peter, an internationally famous calligrapher and lettering artist, engaged the help of several members of his Lichfield Calligraphy Group, a tutor group which meets every Thursday at St Michael’s Church Hall.

Following discussions with the ArtReach committee, Peter decided to use imagery from the VIIIth century St Chad Gospel, which is housed in the Cathedral’s Chapter house, and which has been part of the life and witness of the Cathedral for over 1,000 years.

The main decoration, along the back and straddling the shoulders, is the six section ‘St Chad Cross’ from highly intricate carpet page, in purple and pink similar to the colour scheme of the decorative pages of the Gospel book. Each square section of the cross contains simplified versions of the original, interlacing cormorant like bird designs with coloured wings. Each ear is resplendent with reversed designs of cat like animals from the surrounding decoration of the carpet page cross.

The other interlacing and Celtic spiral designs are derived from decorative themes from other decorated pages.

She is named Pearl-Margarita because the quotation, in Latin and English bids us not to cast our pearls before swine.

The Latin quotation is written in the original Insular Half-Uncial script style of the manuscript and of VIIIth century Britain. It says, ‘neque mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos’: ‘Do not cast your pearls before swine’ written in a modern round hand script. She has a large pearl like necklace. Her snout and trotters are gilded using gold leaf.

The assistants were: Tina Scott, Clare Townsend, Wendy Lord, Frank and April Zobel, Linda Lewis, Ursula McKay, Wynn Griffiths, and Sheila Bates.

Source: Lichfield Cathedral