medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Ceremonial use: yes!
Pair: not necessarily. Elephant tusks come in pairs, too, but even
objects that preserve the tusk's shape are normally singular, as far as
I know (think olifants).
The rest: good questions! Though if indeed ceremonial, it could have
been carried on its own rather than attached to something else.
There are a great many such saddles; I just posted the ones in the Met,
the ones that came first to mind and are well illustrated online. But
yes, I very much doubt that this antler served in that way.
Looking again at the photos, it appears that the second tine down in the
museum's front view was already truncated when the carving was done. On
that tine the animal head faces out, while on the others it faces in.
As Carl says, though (as I finished writing this message), we have
indeed strayed from religion. But it's been fun!
best,
Genevra
On 4/27/2018 9:03 AM, David Critchley wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Some thoughts occur.
> 1. Given the quality of the ornament, it is surely intended for ceremonial use only.
> 2. Antlers come in pairs: should we assume that there was a corresponding antler that is now lost?
> 3. What does it weigh? The answer may rule out certain uses.
> 4. It must in use have been attached to something, if only by thongs or cords. What evidence of fixing holes, supports etc survives and what can we learn from them?
> 5. Is there any evidence of wear?
> 6. Where is its centre of gravity and at what point is it most easily supported?
> 7. Does the ornament suggest that it was intended to be viewed from one direction only?
>
> David J. Critchley
>
>> On 27 Apr 2018, at 13:40, Gross-Diaz, Theresa<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>>
>> All these musings and examples are very helpful. When I was in Amsterdam looking at it (through the glass case, admittedly) I was convinced that there was no trace of anything anywhere that would show how it was hung or held. To my moderately experienced eye (I too love carved ivory/horn/bone!) it did not look overcleaned; though if it had been overcleaned two centuries ago I might not be able to spot that.
>> The saddle examples are interesting but I note that, in the great examples Genevra turned up, the part that goes over the back of the animal seems to be wood (birch) - this antler I think is far too narrow to go over the back of any animal, and even a really skinny beast would also probably bot appreciate the tines tickling its sides ;-)
>> From decorative shield to ceremonial saddle? This thing has my attention and I plan to pursue this - once the semester is over!
>> BTW, it seems to have been called "shield" since it first turned up at an auction in the 19C, where it was claimed to be "the shield of Charlemagne". So from the start I took the title "shield" with a grain of salt.
>> Theresa
>>
>>
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