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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Conclusion: it's a fake?

Henk

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] Namens Christopher Crockett
Verzonden: dinsdag 29 november 2011 18:51
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: Re: [M-R] photos: Arian Baptistry, Enger Cross, wooden reliquary

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

From: Genevra Kornbluth <[log in to unmask]>

>a 14th/15th-c. wooden reliquary with attached pilgrim and secular
badges: http://kornbluthphoto.com/TournaiWoodenRel.html
 
> The last object was brought to my attention by Sarah Blick, who will 
> be
publishing it soon. The curator at Tournai suggested that some of the badges
might illustrate the Roman de la Rose. Any comments?


i know nothing of iconography, which i recently heard was a BORING subject
--though my natural proclivity towards Caution would make me reluctant to
characterize any of those metal artifacts depicting a woman engaged in
conversation with a tonsured monk as "secular" (unless, of course, her name
was Rose).

the fabrication of the box is something which i do know a bit about,
however,
and i would best characterize that as "rather crude," certainly not the work
of a professional cabinet- or box-maker.

it appears to be of sawn --rather than "riven" (split)-- oak. 

the type of wood is just a guess, suggested by the color and grain of the
wood
--as oak ages the tannin in the wood darkens it (even if it rather light
"white oak") to that lovely warm brown color.

at first glance i just assumed that those are "rays" --the darker colored,
smooth "bands" running across the main grain-- which are particularly
visible
on the inside of the back wall  

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel8.jpg

if i were to make a box like this from scratch i would begin with a "bolt"
of
wood --a small "log" cut to the length i needed and with its "heartwood"
well
more than twice the diameter of the widest pieces of wood i would need
(here,
the bottom and top of the box). 

for a box this size, a piece of the main trunk would not be needed --a large
tree branch of sufficient size and straight enough would be sufficient.

i would then "rive" (split) the bolt through its center and down its length
into successively thinner "shakes" (which would be triangular in plan) until
i
got down to about the thickness i wanted.  

then i would split off both the (outer) "sap wood" and the inside corner of
the triangle (closest to the center) until i got, roughly, the thickness of
board i needed at the thinnest end of the.

i would then plane the boards down from their trapezoidal (formerly
triangular) thickness shape to a rectangular one.

(this takes a lot longer to describe this process than it does to actually
do
it.)

but i don't think that is what our "craftsman" here did.

he seems to have *sawn* the boards from the bolt *length wise.*

this is a rather tedious process (since the wood "likes" to be split down
its
grain rather than laboriously sawn).

the saw was worked at a diagonal to the grain of the wood, as can be seen
here
in the more-or-less regular diagonal "kerfs" (marks made by the teeth of the
saw), running from upper left to lower right:

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel9.jpg

the longitudinal striations are a bit puzzling --the only thing i can think
of
is that they were made with a plane "bit" (blade) which had quite a lot of
nicks in it.

[Note Genevra: "raking" light is best for catching surface details like
this.]

those nicks would leave rough striations like that; but there sure are a
*lot*
of them.  no professional box maker would have a plane bit in that condition
(in addition to the crappy finish it would leave, it would be hard as the
devil to use, since the edges of the nicks are *dull* and don't cut the
wood,
only tear it, hence the roughness of the striations).

in any case, no professional would leave a piece of wood looking like that.

the general roughness of the surfaces of the wood suggests to me that it was
originally intended to have been covered with something --colored cloth
(think: Red velvet) i should suspect, which would provide a nice background
for the open work of the "badges" and, particularly, the roundels-- which
would have the added advantage of covering up the roughness and
irregularities
of the surfaces visible on all the boards.

the multiple (identical, note) "badges" and the roundels (identical, note)
are
all attached by nails which are "clinched" (bent over) on the inside --a
somewhat crude method of attaching them.

the "hinges" 

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel8.jpg

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel11.jpg

are of the simplest type imaginable --just bent nails or pieces of thick
wire
strung through two holes in lid and back.

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel6.jpg

the corners of the box are not "joined," i.e., joined together with cut
joints
(such as "dovetails") or even set in rabbits/rebates

http://oed.com/view/Entry/156959?rskey=EviEem&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid

but the ends of the boards of the ends are just "butted" against the sides
and
held there with small nails

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel8.jpg

in at least one case a nail has "run out" into the interior of the box

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel6.jpg

that particular shot of the inside also shows very nicely that the box was
put
together when the wood was still "green" --wood shrinks as it drys out and
it
shrinks more in its width than it does in its length.

which is why the bottom no longer "fits" --note the wide "cracks" running
down
the bottom as it (now) fails to meet with the sides.

again, no self-respecting box maker would put together something like that
--and if his apprentice did, that hapless young fellow would get his ears
"boxed" (hence, the little-known origin of the phrase).

the (rather crude) vertical rabbets (groves) in both ends 

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel6.jpg

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel7.jpg

would appear to have been intended to receive a thin board which would have
partitioned the interior into two parts, of unequal size (the narrowest in
front).

what the devil the groove in the bottom (of only one end) here 

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel6.jpg

was intended for, i haven't the foggiest clue.

the less said about the pathetic attached mortice for the "lock"

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel3A.jpg

the better.

what "lock," 

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel18.jpg

btw?


the 10 identical (pewter, i assume) "badges" 

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel11A.jpg

and the 2 identical roundels 

http://kornbluthphoto.com/images/TournaiWoodRel2l.jpg

are typical of the genre --stylistically-- and can be seen in the
overwhelming
majority of artifacts of this type. 

this ain't "high art," folks, neither in its conception nor in its execution
--it is no more the work of a professional "ymaginier" than the box is that
of
a professional box maker.

indeed the general crudeness of its manu-facture and the style, fabrication
and repetition of both the tin "roundels" and "badges" suggest to me that we
are in the presence of an ad hoc piece of "Folk Art," rather than any sort
of
seriously thought-out artifact.  

certainly not one commissioned by any substantial ecclesiastical institution
or authority.

but, what do i know?

not one with enough sense to wait for Sarah's article to come out,
obviously.

c

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