Nieuwstad

Noted and illustrated in Ligtenberg (1915) as the fragment of the basin of a baptismal made of limestone; the fragment, which appears to consists of one full size of the basin, has two full human heads (one bearded) prominent at the angles; between them on the round side is a horned (?) mask with two acanthus branches bearing fruit stemming from its mouth, similar to the way lion heads are represented on fonts of this type. An old photograph in Limburgs Erfgoed [www.limburgserfgoed.nl/detail/EHC/D455AF59-101A-4773-E044-D6E81C5C6972] [accessed 3 February 2016] is captioned "Interieur voormalige abdijkerk St. Salvator te Susteren", thereby identifying the original church as the former abbey church of St. Salvator in Susteren; the caption further notes that the four heads that decorate the sides of the basin at 90-degree angles are symbols for the four rivers of Paradise, Euphrates, Tigris, Gehon and Phison. [NB: the undated B&W photograph is labeled "Beeldbank E.H.C. Sittard-Geleen", and the site gives the Euregionaal Historisch Centrum, Sittard-Geleen, ref. no. D455AF59-101A-4773-E044-D6E81C5C6972 as source]. Hartog (2002) quotes from a 1920 acquisition record entry by W. Goosens in the 'Maasgouw' journal of the Rijksarchief in Limburg. Archief Limburgs Geschied- en Oudheidkundig Genootschap, which refers to the basin fragment from a Romanesque baptismal font originally from the church at Nieuwstad: "Kuipfragmentvan een Rom. doopvont, dat te Nieuwstad in den muur eener boerderij was ingemetseld. Afgestaan door den hr. Kruyen, onder voorwaarde, dat het ter beschikking blijft van de kerk van Nieuwstad, als deze de doopvomt wil laten aanvullen en herstellen." Hartog (2002) discribes and illustrates the fragment: "Only one side of this baptismal font has survived. It is cracked both on the left and the right. On top, the basin is curved with protruding round corners with heads underneath. At the bottom the basin is more or less tripartite: curved under the corner heads and straight in the middle". Hartog (ibid.) describes the two surviving heads -one bearded, one not- in detail, noting the "pretzel-like" ears on both heads, a "demon's head with straight hair, two horns, tiny ears, large eyes, a long nose and sagging cheeks" between the heads, and remarks on the thick vegetal strands that stem from its mouth and have split ends with foliage and grape bucnches. Hartog (ibid.) also notes "a fragment of a curled snake's tail with pierced beading" to the right of the bearded head. This side of the basin is like one of the sides of the font at Givonne, in France, and not unlike several other fonts of the Mosan type produced at about the same time in the Namurois. Hartog (ibid.) cites a 1871 source that places the fragment "maçonné dans un mur de la grange de M. le bourgmestre Buysmans" at the time and suggests a rather late date of the 14th century for the piece. This same 1871 source mentions that the fragment is said to have originated in Susteren. The fragment is now [2003] in the Bonnefantenmuseum, Limburgs Museum voor Kunst en Oudhoden, Maastricht]