The study of Limoges enamels of the 13th century has been bedevilled by the scarcity of securely documented or dated works, and various attempts have been made to arrange pieces into coherent groups. One such was Stohlman's article on the so-called 'Star group' of enamels (loc. cit), which tried to use a decorative motif as a means of ordering the material. Although his conclusions have not generally been accepted, he did at least isolate a category of object decorated on both sides, in which the front consists of appliqué figures on a metal ground sown with stars and cabochons. The present crucifix, now lacking the decoration that must originally have adorned its reverse, conforms to this type. This fact does not of itself allow for greater precision concerning issues of chronology or indeed place of origin, since some scholars have even wondered whether all the pieces need necessarily be French, but it is clear that the best examples are among the most distinctive productions of the Limoges ateliers. Particularly fine examples include a châsse in the Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen, whose front and back are decorated with scenes from the infancy of Christ (Stohlman, op. cit., figs. 1-4), and another châsse, formerly in the collection of Germain Seligman (New York, loc. cit.).
The present crucifix is by no means unique in combining an appliqué Christ with cabochons, as a whole group of them assembled by Thoby (1953, op. cit., nos. 29-45, pls. XVI-XXIV) demonstrates. The earlier examples, such as a cross in the Musée Mathon at Neufchâtel-en-Bray (Rupin, loc. cit., Stohlman, op. cit., p. 329, no. 11, Thoby, 1953, op. cit., no. 29, pl. XVI), and another in the Musée de Cluny in Paris (Thoby, 1953, op. cit., no. 31, pl. XVIII, Thoby, 1959, loc. cit.) are austerely hieratic in their treatment of the figure of Christ. By contrast, the present figure is distinguished by its bowed head and the swaying s-curve formed by the body, both of which are designed to increase the effect of pathos. In these respects, it falls into Thoby's category II, B (1953, op. cit., pp. 8-9), and is closely related to three examples in the Musée de Tessé, Le Mans, the Church at Châlons-sur-Saône, and the Cathedral Treasury at Trier (Thoby, 1953, op. cit., nos. 36-7, 43, pls. XXII-III).