Glencairn Museum No. 1

Described and illustrated in Cahn (1979-1999, vol. II: 46-47): "This is the upper corner of a quadrangular baptismal font of the familiar Tournai type, said by the dealer to have been purchased in Belgium. In a complete state , three circular medallions with fantastic animals appeared on each of the two contiguous sides. The upper section of one and part of a second now remain. On one side there are winged griffins. The other shows winged leonine creatures. On the top of the block, around the rim of the circular basin, traces of a palmette foliage are in evidence." Cahn (ibid.) finds similarities with the Tournai fonts of Termonde, Winchester and Southampton [cf. Index corresponding entries], but points out that "it is unclear to which of the two systems [Termonde/Winchester vs. Southampton] the carving in the Glencairn Museum adhered". Cahn (ibid.), who gives the origin of the font as "Flanders", prefers a date in the "middle of the third quarter of the XIIth century". Described in Drake (2003: 344) as "a fragment of a bowl which certainly had mythical beasts in roundels on three sides and may have had all four decorated in the same way, but nothing remains of the fourth side". Drake (ibid.) lists this example as being "from the Tournai School". The fragment of this font in the Bryn Athyn museum is noted and illustrated in Julia Perratore's Protective Images from Glencairn's Medieval Sculpture Collection, Glencairn Museum News | Number 5, 2017 [https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2017/5/12/protective-images-from-glencairns-medieval-sculpture-collection] [accessed 5 July 2023]. The fragment was acquired by the Museum from L. Demotte, a dealer, in 1924. More on Demotte courtesy of Pol Herman (e-mail of 2 November 2021 to BSI):. "Mrs. Vivet-Peclet (formerly at the Louvre) studies the export of European art object to the USA by the brothers Demotte. These antiquarians had offices in Paris and in New York. You can see a presentation of her work on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7MCg-wZtQ8 Conférence du Louvre : « Une étude des Demotte marchands d’art inclassables du début du 20e siècle» -- Mrs. Vivet-Peclet (formerly at the Louvre) studies the export of European art object to the USA by the brothers Demotte.I had encountered this font while reading the archives of the late senator Michiel Maertens (in the archives of the city of Diksmuide), who studied Romanesque baptismal fonts."