Fora / Föra

INFORMATION

Font ID: 05264FOR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th century, Romanesque
Church / Chapel Name: Föra kyrka
Font Location in Church: West end, south side, on the south side of the aisle of the nave, by the stairwell to the tower, opposite the new font
Site Location: Öland, Kalmar län, Sweden, Europe
Directions to Site: Located in the Norra mot, about a third of the way up from Borgholm
Additional Comments: damaged font: only a very worn basin remains now, after yaers in the churchyard
Font Notes:
Described and illustrated in Boström (1966- , Bd. I, hft. 6, p. 609ff): only the basin of the old baptismal font remains; it is quasi cylindrical and made of grey Gotlandic limestone [material identification by geologist Erik Åhman of Uppsala, a/p note in Boström, p. 621n], although the sides are slightly slanted; if it ever had any ornamentation on it, it is totally gone now; the upper rim is also showing signs of exposure, probably the result of the many years it spent in the churchyard. "The shaft was made in 1955 of Öland limestone." (Ibid., p. 611). [NB: there is a modern baptismal font in use in this church, standing to the left (north) of the medieval font entered in this Index]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone (basin) (grey, from Gotland)
Font Shape: cylindrical, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Diameter (includes rim): 92 cm
Font Height (less Plinth): 99 cm*
Notes on Measurements: Boström (1966- , Bd. 1, hft. 6, p. 610)

REFERENCES

  • Boström, Ragnhild, Sveriges Kyrkor: Öland, Stockholm: Generalstabens litografiska anstals förlag, 1966-, Bd. 1, hft. 6, p. 534, 609-612, 621n, 625
  • Roosval, Johnny, Die Steinmeister Gottlands: Eine Geschichte der führenden Taufsteinwerkstätte des schwedischen Mittlealters, ihre Voraussetzungen und Begleit-Erscheinungen, Stockholm: A.-B. C.E. Fritzes K. Hofbokhandel, 1918, p. 209