Zomas / Las Zomas

Noted in Nieto Taberné (1994) as a baptismal font ornamented with rope motif. Described and illustrated in Nieto Taberné (2001: 23) as a Romanesque font with a hemispheric basin which is almost plain except for a thick protruding rope motif all around the lower end of the side, towards the underbowl; the curious aspect of this motif is that it incorporates a wedge or shield-like protrusion at 90-degree angles, just below the rope motif; if these were indeed shields -rather than just triangular ornament resembling them- and the font is, as claimed, Romanesque, this would be quite an early appearance of heraldic motifs on a baptismal font. The base is square but it is not clear whether the upper part is detached from the basin or part of it. Noted and illustrated in the Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla-La Mancha: Cuenca (2009) [https://www.romanicodigital.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/files/cuenca_Zomas%2C_Las.pdf] [accessed 28 August 2023] as a baptismal font of the 13th century at the earliest, which shares a low-slung rope moulding on its basin with the font at nearby Mohorte; raised on a squat square base ["EL ÚNICO TESTIMONIO tardorrománico conservado en el templo es la pila bautismal (117 x 92 cm). Consta de un pedestal cuadrado sobre el que se dispone una copa lisa decorada únicamente con un cordón sogueado en la parte inferior, motivo que se repite en otros ejemplares de la provincia, como Mohorte y Jábaga. Su cronología, tardía, no parece que sea anterior al siglo XIII." The pronounced rope moulding has triangular wedges or scallops se at 90-degree angles below; there is an incised line below the upper rim that creates a moulding. Described and illustrated by José Luis Rodríguez Zapata, in Arquivoltas [http://www.arquivoltas.com/34-Cuenca/02-Zomas 20-Las.htm] [accessed 28 August 2023]: "la pila bautismal reposa en un tenante cuadrangular sobre una amplia base circular; con perfil troncocónico invertido, su vaso presenta, a partir de un bocel en su ancha embocadura, una superficie lisa hasta que casi a la altura de su base se desarrolla una gruesa moldura de cordón sogueado. Desde la parte inferior de esta soga se disponen cuatro escudos de forma triangular en resalte buscando la unión de cada uno de sus ángulos más bajos con las cuatro esquinas del tenante que soporta el vaso." [NB: the "cuatro escudos" are probably meant to be decorative triangular wedges rather than shields]. No cover present.