New York No. 5

Main image for New York No. 5

Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015

Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

Results: 14 records

view of font

the font as displayed in The Hispanic Society of America in May 2015
Scene Description: the font as displayed in The Hispanic Society of America in May 2015
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

design element - patterns - fretwork - Grecian / Greek

on alternate sides of upper rim side
Scene Description: on alternate sides of upper rim side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

symbol - cross - mounted cross - fleurdelisé - 4

alternating with Christ's initials [IHS] in Gothic lettering
Scene Description: alternating with Christ's initials [IHS] in Gothic lettering
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

Christ - monogram - IHS - in a shield - 4?

in Gothic lettering, alternating with crosses on the sides of the octagonal font; the shield has fret pattern all around
Scene Description: in Gothic lettering, alternating with crosses on the sides of the octagonal font; the shield has fret pattern all around
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

symbol - hand of Fatimah (Moorish motif)

two are visible on the centre panel here, in the lower spandrels [cf. FontNotes]
Scene Description: two are visible on the centre panel here, in the lower spandrels [cf. FontNotes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

design element - motifs - floral - thistle flower (Moorish motif)

one on each side of the cross, lower half [cf. FontNotes]
Scene Description: one on each side of the cross, lower half [cf. FontNotes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

design element - patterns - torsade

at the angles of the panels
Scene Description: at the angles of the panels
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

design element - patterns - interlace

on alternate sides of the upper rim
Scene Description: on alternate sides of the upper rim
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

symbol - eye (Moorish motif)

besides the other representations in dark glaze on the outside of the font, these incisions of eyes and hand are on the inside the inner well
Scene Description: besides the other representations in dark glaze on the outside of the font, these incisions of eyes and hand are on the inside the inner well
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1999
Image Source: illustration in McQuade (1999)
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

symbol - eye (Moorish motif)

on inside and outside of the basin
Scene Description: on inside and outside of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1999
Image Source: illustration in McQuade (1999)
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

symbol - hand of Fatimah (Moorish motif)

besides the other representations in dark glaze on the outside of the font, these incisions of eyes and hand are on the inside the inner well
Scene Description: besides the other representations in dark glaze on the outside of the font, these incisions of eyes and hand are on the inside the inner well
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1999
Image Source: illustration in McQuade (1999)
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

information

label on the font at The Hispanic Society of America in May 2015
Scene Description: label on the font at The Hispanic Society of America in May 2015
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Irene González González, 2015
Image Source: digital photograph taken 5 May 2015 by Irene González González
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 29 June 2015)

view of font

Photograph of the font at the time of the exhibition 'Caliphs and Kings', New York, 2004
Scene Description: Photograph of the font at the time of the exhibition 'Caliphs and Kings', New York, 2004
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Tsantes and Neil Greetree, 2004
Image Source: Ecker (2004)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of object

17th-century Mexican fountain (E989) -- note the similarities of the inner basin and of the outer fountain to other baptismal fonts in this Index
Scene Description: 17th-century Mexican fountain (E989) -- note the similarities of the inner basin and of the outer fountain to other baptismal fonts in this Index
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The Hispanic Society of America, 1938
Image Source: photograph in the Society's Handbook (1928)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

INFORMATION

Font ID: 00727HIS
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: ca. 1400?
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th century, Hispano-Moresque / Mudéjar
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Hispano-Moresque font
Cognate Fonts: Other such fonts at Villamiel, Camarenilla, Santa Cruz del Retamar and Taller del Moro (form. in the parish of San Salvador, Toledo), all in the province of Toledo
Museum: The Hispanic Society of America, No. E503
Church / Chapel Name: [originally from an unknown church in the province of Toledo, Spain]
Font Location in Church: In the Hispanic Society of America, New York City -- in the upper gallery
Church Address: [NB: address & cordinates are for the museum] 613 W 155th St, New York, NY 10032, United States -- Tel.: +1 212-926-2234
Site Location: New York, United States, North America
Directions to Site: The Museum of the Hispanic Society is located in Spanish Harlem, in New York City
Additional Comments: On our visit to the Society's museum the font was out on loan. BSI requests for images from the Society have gone unanswered -- The font was on loan to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery for the exhibition "Caliphs and Kings: the Art and Influence of Islamic Spain" -- NB: an image 1031117001 is kept in the folder for New York #5 -- It may be one of Javier Torrens' images from his visit to the Hisp Soc of New York -- to be sorted out]
Font Notes:
Baptismal font originally from an unknown church in the province of Toledo, Spain, now [2004] kept in the Museum of the Hispanic Society of America, in New York City. The font is described in the Society's Handbook (1938): "Of the fonts attributed to Toledo, one (E503) is in the gallery of the Hispanic Museum. It is octagonal with a conical base [i.e., underbowl, not base] The decorations are painted green on the white ground; Gothic lettering, crosses, shields and Grecian frets are impressed into or applied to the surface. Such Moorish motives as the hand of Fatimah and the eye, protections against evil, are distributed among the Christian symbols." The surface is covered with white tin enamel, moulded pattern, the relief coated with green glaze. There is an iIrregular hole at the bottom of the basin, where it once joined a pedestal base. Noted and illustrated in McQuade (1999), who gives the measurements as "diameter 86.5 cm.; alto 64 cm" [sic]. Listed in Ecker's catalogue of the "Caliphs and Kings: the Art and Influence of Islamic Spain" exhibition (2004): "Tin-glazed earthenware with green glaze. Toledo ca. 1400". Ecker writes that "Five of these Toledan baptismal fonts have survived, and two others were known before they were destroyed in the Spanish Civil War", and notes, with reference to Frothingham (1936, after Gestoso), that "in 1671, the synod of Málaga ordered the destruction of ceramic baptismal fonts and their substitution with fonts of stone" but, neither was the order carried out strictly, nor did the manufacture of ceramic fonts or basin inserts stop at the time. Described and illustrated in Trusted (2007) as one of the "Christian works of art [that] might be made by Muslim craftsmen using traditional Islamic materials, techniques, and decorations, such as tin-glazed eartenware baptismal fonts with talismanic and prophylactic devices [...] This font is adorned with stamped hands and eyes, and a pointed thistle flower, thought to be Islamic devices."
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Irene González González, of Toledo, Spain, for her photograph of this font

COORDINATES

UTM: 18T 588823 4520811
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 40.833521, -73.946514
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 40° 50′ 0.68″ N, 73° 56′ 47.45″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: ceramic, earthenware (tin-glazed)
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: octagonal
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
Drainage System: centre hole in basin
Drainage Notes: no lining
Diameter (includes rim): 86.6 cm / 86.5 cm**
Height of Basin Side: 37.5 cm
Basin Total Height: 64 cm**
Notes on Measurements: [source unknown - not recorded -- perhaps Frontingham?] / ** [Ecker (2004) has "64 x 86.5 cm.", the same as McQuade]

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: initials
Inscription Location: basin side
Inscription Text: "IHS"
Inscription Notes: four times; anagram of Christ in Gothic lettering

REFERENCES

  • Barber, Edwin Atlee, Spanish Maiolica, New York: The Hispanic Society of America, 1915, p. 81
  • Cruzada Villaamil, Gregorio, "Pila bautismal de barro cocido esmaltado en Toledo", 8, El Arte en España, revista mensual del arte y de su historia, 1869, pp. 5-10.
  • Ecker, Heather, Caliphs and kings: the art and influence of Islamic Spain, Washington D.C.: The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2004, p. 145-146 and pl. 53
  • Frothingham, Alice Wilson, "Ceramic Baptismal Fonts of Toledo Province", Actas del XXIII Congreso Internacional de Historia del Arte: España entre el Mediterraneo y el atlantico, Granada., Granada: Universidad de Granada, 1977, p. 100
  • McQuade, M. Connors, "Las cerámicas españolas de la Hispanic Society of America (Archer Milton Huntington y su museo)", 38, Núm. 4 Julio-Agosto 1999, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, 1999, pp. 353-358; p. 256 and fig. 10
  • Moraleda y Esteban, Juan de, "Pila bautismal de Ugena", Ano. 5, Dec.30, Toledo revista, 1919
  • Trusted, Marjorie, The Arts of Spain: Iberia and Latin America, 1450-1700, London: Victoria & Albert Publications, 2007, p. 119-120, pl. 99 and fn78
  • Trustees of Hispanic Society of America, Hispanic Society of America Handbook: Museum and Library Collections, New York: [The Society] Printed by order of The Trustees, 1938, p. 116