Almen

Eyck (1846) refers to an entry in the Geldersche Volks-Almanak of 1835 that mentions a font in Almen was unearthed in the church in 1834, probably buried there at the time of the Refortmation. The illustration in Eyck (ibid.) has the caption: "11de of 12de eeuw" [NB: in Eyck's illustration one of the head's is clearly a ram]. Noted with measurements and illustrated in Ligtenberg (1915). Listed in Drake (2002) as a font of the Bentheim School, "Group A/B1, Transitional with colonnettes"; the group includes the fonts at Almen, Apeldoorn and Vledder; Drake (ibid.) adds: "There are three fonts which have slight vertical articulations in the manner of Vledder and Apeldoorn, the lower half cut back to provide the appearance of a massive central shaft flanked by four engaged colonnettes. These are Fulkum and Funix [...] and Dunum". An e-mail communication of 29 May 2015 from Joost Limburg to BSI notes: "According to Steensma the font in Almen is one of the oldest of the Bentheim sandstone fonts in NL; he suggests mid 12th century. He also quotes Ligtenberg (1915), who wrote that the font was found buried under the church in 1834. Other sources (like https://sites.google.com/site/kerkvanalmen/historie) are more specific regarding the finding place: under the floor of the tower portal. Only in the beginning of the 20th century is was placed next to the pulpit (see http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doopvont_-_Almen_-_20007228_-_RCE.jpg), resuming its original function. Later, I couldn't find when, it was moved to its current spot." There is damage at the upper rim, the worst probably where the metal staples of an old cover were. There basin is not lined, and the upper rim surface is cut to fit a round lid onto it. This font does not fit well into the categories devised for the Bentheim types by Noehles (1953) and expanded by Drake (2002), whether because it is an early precursor of the Bentheim school, or because it is simple a crude product done on the cheap; the upper base has four constructional columns each topped with a head (2 human, 2 animal). There is graffiti scratched into ione side of the basin, right below a deep square hole cut into the stone.