Oostham

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Results: 7 records

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Apostle or saint - Evangelists - 4 (symbols)

Scene Description: two of them are visible here: Matthew's angel, on the left, and Mark's lion on the right; both appear holding open books

Image Source: digital image of a 1917-1918 B&W photograph by the Kommission für die photographische Inventarisation der belgischen Kunstdenkmäler, in BALaT KIK-IRPA [11013385] [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/11013385] [accessed 23 February 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced in accordance with KIK-IRPA guidelines

design element - motifs - leaf or spur - 4

Scene Description: [cf. FontNotes]

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced in accordance with KIK-IRPA guidelines

design element - motifs - moulding - parallel - 2

Scene Description: with the carved Evangelists' symbols between them; the lower one is more rounded and pronounced

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced in accordance with KIK-IRPA guidelines

human figure - head - 4

Scene Description: set at 90-degree angles on the basin sides -- two of them are visible here

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced in accordance with KIK-IRPA guidelines

view of church exterior

Scene Description: Source caption: "Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Geboortekerk (Oostham) (21825) 3-08-2020"

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 3 August 2020 by Paul Hermans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Geboortekerk_(Oostham)_(21825)_3-08-2020_13-28-42.jpg] [accessed 24 February 2023]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0

view of church interior - looking east

Scene Description: Source caption: "Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Geboortekerk (Oostham) meest recente schip 3-08-2020"

Image Source: digital photograph 3 August 2020 by Paul Hermans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Geboortekerk_(Oostham)_meest_recente_schip_3-08-2020.jpg] [accessed 24 February 2023]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0

view of font in context

Scene Description: the lower base is only partially visible in this photograph; there would have been originally a cylindrical stem as well

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced in accordance with KIK-IRPA guidelines

INFORMATION

FontID: 00409OOS

Church/Chapel: Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Geboortekerk

Church Patron Saints: The Nativity of St. Mary

Church Location: Heldenplein 19/23, Oostham, 3945 Ham, Belgium -- Tel.: +32 465 84 00 19

Country Name: Belgium

Location: Limburg, Vlaanderen / Flandres

Directions to Site: Located off the N141 [aka Torenlaan], now a sub-municipality of Ham, NE of Diest, 7-8 km W of Leopoldsburg

Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]

Century and Period: 11th - 12th century, Romanesque

Cognate Fonts: copy made ca. 1930 for the church at Tervant [cf. FontNotes]

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pol Hermans for his help in documenting this font

Church Notes: original church here early-8thC; re-built ca. 900; 10thC(?) tower; church enlarged 14th, early-17thC; much modified since; almost totally destroyed by fire May 1940; re-built 1950s

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [11013385] [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/11013385] [accessed 23 February 2023] as a Romanesque stone baptismal font with date "901-1100"; the 1917-1918 B&W photograph by the Kommission für die photographische Inventarisation der belgischen Kunstdenkmäler shows a roughly cylindrical basin with protruding heads at 90-degree angles, the sides between them showing carved humans and animals, the latter the symbols of the Evangelists; a lower base is partially visible in the photograph, round-to-square, decorated with angle leaves; there would have been originally a cylindrical shaft as well, probably, but it is not included in the view; the object appears to have been photographed outdoors. [NB: we have no information on the present whereabouts of this object]. The church is listed in the Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed [https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/21825] [accessed 23 February 2023] but there is no mention of a font in it. A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 12 September 1924) includes a text 'Goed om weten, oude doopvonten in onze streek' [Olmen.pdf] [accessed 21 September 2024] that describes the misadventures of the medieval font at Oostham: it was photograph by the German occupying force ca. 1917-1918, disused, in the cemetery where it may have been relegated to in 1836; around 1930 it was restored and installed inside the church; the church burned down in May 1940 and the font was completely destroyed then, A copy of the font had been made ca. 1930 for the church of Tervant, where it still is: "We waren benieuwd of er foto’s van Olmen bij waren. De Duitsers lieten Olmen links liggen, maar buurdorp Oostham kwam wel aan bod. Vooral de foto van de Oosthamse doopvont trok onze aandacht. Bij een dergelijk doopvontmodel werden vaak de symbolen van de evangelisten op de wand van het bekken aangebracht. Hier herkennen we de gevleugelde mens (engel) van Lucas en de os of stier van Mathias. Aan de hoekpunten stonden maskers, kopjes, die de “vier stromen van het aards paradijs” voorstelden. De Romaanse doopvont van Oostham uit de 12de eeuw kende een bewogen geschiedenis. Vermoedelijk rond 1836 belandde ze op het kerkhof. Daar werd ze door de Duitsers gefotografeerd. Kort voor de aanvang van de oorlog werd beslist om ze te restaureren. Dat gebeurde na de Eerste Wereldoorlog rond 1930. Op 11 mei 1940 werd de kerk van Oostham in brand gestoken en de doopvont overleefde deze ramp niet. Ze verpulverde helemaal. Een kopie van deze doopvont is rond 1930 gemaakt voor de kerk van Tervant. Daar is ze nog te bewonderen."

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 51.10385, 5.17823

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 51° 6′ 13.86″ N, 5° 10′ 41.63″ E

UTM: 31U 652496 5663630

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone?

Font Shape: cylindrical (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: round