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Baptismal font
Goteke Klinghe (German (Bremen), active in the late 15th century)
German (Bremen)
Medieval (Gothic)
1483
Object Place: Europe, Bremen, Germany
Medium/Technique
Metal: leaded bronze (body of font: 77.7% copper, 9.9% tin, 12.4% lead)
Dimensions
100.4 x 101.2 cm (39 1/2 x 39 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Sarah F. Gorham and Alice H. Goddard Fund
Accession Number41.561
OUT ON LOAN
On display at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 27, 2024 – January 20, 2025
On display at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 27, 2024 – January 20, 2025
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsMetalwork
This superbly modeled basin is supported by four figures dressed as deacons, members of the church hierarchy, bearing the coat of arms of the font's donor. The relief decoration of the exterior consists of a Crucifixion scene and Saint Luke and the twelve apostles, disciples of Christ, all identified by their names. In old Saxon dialect is inscribed the name of the maker, the youngest member of a family of bronze founders active in Bremen in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In the medieval period, the child being baptized was fully immersed in the font, which explains the large size of this example.
DescriptionCircular basin with two busts protruding from the rim and supported by four standing angels. Bowl cast in one piece, legs and handles cast on reinforced with metal keys and pins, and chased minimally. The outside of the basin with a stippled ground is decorated with fourteen continuous flamboyant Gothic arches beneath which are a Crucifixion with the Virgin (inscribed S.MAREIA) and Saint John (inscribed S.IOHANS) and thirteen standing Apostles, each identified by an inscription. Beginning with the Crucifixion and proceeding to the right, the Apostles are:
Name Inscription Attributes
Matthew S.MATTHEVS sword, book
John S.IOHANNES chalice
Simon S.SIMON saw, book
Philip S.FILIPPVS double cross, book
Luke S.LUKAS palm branch, three balls, belt
Jude S.IVDAS club, book
Andrew S.ANDREAS saltire
James the Less S.IACOBVS D.K fuller's staff, book
Thomas S.THOMAS lance
Mathias S.MATTHIAS ax, book
Bartholomew S.BARTHOLOMEVS knife, book
James the Great S.IACOBV D.G staff, shell
Peter S.PETRVS key, book
An inscription in old Saxon dialect around the upper rim reads [GOTE] KE KLINGHE DE MI GEGOTEN HAD GOT GEU [E SYNER SELEN] RAT S ANNA S KATRINA S DORATEA S MARGRET S GARDRUD HEL[P]. On the lower rim is the date: ANNO DNI MCCCCLXXXIII AN MIICHAL MEN DEN LOUR. The underside of the basin shows a central rosette surrounded by two concentric bands of profile acanthus. The frontal angels, each with long curly hair and wearing dalmatic and alb, hold shields with distinctive coats of arms.
Name Inscription Attributes
Matthew S.MATTHEVS sword, book
John S.IOHANNES chalice
Simon S.SIMON saw, book
Philip S.FILIPPVS double cross, book
Luke S.LUKAS palm branch, three balls, belt
Jude S.IVDAS club, book
Andrew S.ANDREAS saltire
James the Less S.IACOBVS D.K fuller's staff, book
Thomas S.THOMAS lance
Mathias S.MATTHIAS ax, book
Bartholomew S.BARTHOLOMEVS knife, book
James the Great S.IACOBV D.G staff, shell
Peter S.PETRVS key, book
An inscription in old Saxon dialect around the upper rim reads [GOTE] KE KLINGHE DE MI GEGOTEN HAD GOT GEU [E SYNER SELEN] RAT S ANNA S KATRINA S DORATEA S MARGRET S GARDRUD HEL[P]. On the lower rim is the date: ANNO DNI MCCCCLXXXIII AN MIICHAL MEN DEN LOUR. The underside of the basin shows a central rosette surrounded by two concentric bands of profile acanthus. The frontal angels, each with long curly hair and wearing dalmatic and alb, hold shields with distinctive coats of arms.
Signed
Upper rim: "[gote]ke klinghe de mi gegoten"
InscriptionsUpper rim: "[gote]ke klinghe de mi gegoten had got geu[e syner selen] rat s anna s katrina s doratea s margret s gardrud hel[p]"
Lower rim: "anno dni mcccclxxxiii an mii[s]c[h]al men den [l]our"
Lower rim: "anno dni mcccclxxxiii an mii[s]c[h]al men den [l]our"
ProvenanceAbout 1849, purchased by M. Delange for Florentin-Achille Seillière (b. 1813 - d. 1873), Chateau de Mello, Oise, France [see note 1]; 1873, by inheritance to his sons, Raymond Seillière (b. 1845 - d. 1912) and Francois Seillière (b. 1849 - d. 1932), Chateau de Mello; May 5-10, 1890, posthumous Achille Seillière sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, lot 429, sold for fr. 19,000 to "Davis", probably Davis Brothers, London, for George Charles Spencer-Churchill (b. 1844 - d. 1892), 8th Duke of Marlborough, and Lily Spencer-Churchill (b. 1854 - d. 1909), Duchess of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace; probably sold or consigned by the estate of the Duchess of Marlborough to Davis Brothers, London; September 29, 1916, sold by Davis Brothers to Duveen Brothers, London and New York (stock no. 26652) [see note 2]; August 23, 1929, sold by Duveen to Clarence H. Mackay (b. 1874 - d. 1938), Roslyn, NY; 1939, Mackay estate consigned for sale to Jacques Seligmann and Co., New York; 1941, sold by Seligmann to the MFA for $15,000. (Accession Date: June 5, 1941)
NOTES:
[1] L. Clement de Ris, "Cuve Baptismale du Chateau de Mello," Chronique des Arts no. 30, September 11, 1875, pp. 274-275, according to whom the font was said to have come from Basel cathedral. [2] Duveen Bros. Records, Getty Research Institute, Business Records: Series I.A, New York House, Stock Book 1929 (Box 23), according to which the font came from the collection of "Lily, Duchess of Marlborough." The Duke of Marlborough was a client of Davis; see Simon Swynfen Jervis, "Charles Davis, The 15th Duke of Norfolk and the Formation of the Collection of Furniture at Arundel Castle," Furniture History 41 (2005): pp. 134-135.
NOTES:
[1] L. Clement de Ris, "Cuve Baptismale du Chateau de Mello," Chronique des Arts no. 30, September 11, 1875, pp. 274-275, according to whom the font was said to have come from Basel cathedral. [2] Duveen Bros. Records, Getty Research Institute, Business Records: Series I.A, New York House, Stock Book 1929 (Box 23), according to which the font came from the collection of "Lily, Duchess of Marlborough." The Duke of Marlborough was a client of Davis; see Simon Swynfen Jervis, "Charles Davis, The 15th Duke of Norfolk and the Formation of the Collection of Furniture at Arundel Castle," Furniture History 41 (2005): pp. 134-135.