Vestby No. 1

Noted in the Vestby entry in Norges Kirker by Sigrid Marie Christie and, Håkon Christie [www.norgeskirker.no/wiki/Vestby_kirke] [accessed 20 December 2015], who give the location as the Nordiska Museet, Sth. of Oslo; they note that the short font is depicted in a 1890 drawing with an additional basin on it to reach a functional height; it is not clear when that was introduced, nor what happened to the additional basin, which is totally different from the present one in this church, raised on a modern base [cf. Index entry for Vestby No. 2]. Described and illustrated in Den Norske Kirke entry for Vestby by Arne Eriksen [http://vestby.kirken.no/kirkene-vaare/vestby-kirke] [accessed 20 December 2015]: the old baptismal from the ca.1200 original church is made of soap-stone and is only 65 cm tall; the basin of the font appears square at the top but tapers to a round shape at the bottom of the underbowl; much of the upper part of the basin is damaged, broken off or eroded, but there is thick rope moulding all around its middle, with circular motifs beneath; three of the corners decorated with human heads; the base is cylindrical, with a cage-like outer structure using thick piping vertically and horizontally. The original font is reported at the Universitetets oldsaksamling in Oslo, but Nordenskirker [www.nordenskirker.dk/Tidligere/Sarpsborg_museum/Sarpsborg_museum1001.htm] [accessed 20 December 2015] notes and illustrates a relica copy of the font at the Borgarsysselmuseum in Sarpsborg. Eriksen (ibid.) mentions one other font now in use at the Vestby Mariakirken, a medieval basin on a modern base. The entry for this font in the Kulturhistorisk museum, Oslo, informs that the font was transferred to it from the Nordiska Museet in Spring of 1971; the catalogue entry reads: "34297. Døpefont fra middelalderen. Grå kleber. Høyde 65 cm, kummen 57 x 41 cm. Fontens fot er formet som en søyle med ribber om. Kummen er tilnærmet rektangulær med et menneskehode ved tre av hjørnene. En tykk, ornert vulst løper mellom hodene. På en av sidene er hugget i relieff en løve med et menneske i kjeften. Kummens kant er brutt ned. Hull for avløp. Fra VESTBY KIRKE , 27.VESTBY s.p., AKERSHUS. Overført fra Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, våren 1971. (NM nr. 63.768). "Ink. hos handl. L. Falkenberg o guldsm. D. Andersen i Kristiania, ss. 63.310 - 200 kr. 29/8 1890"."[source: www.unimus.no/arkeologi/forskning/index_katalog.php?museumsnr=C31563&bla=18750&sted=oslo [accessed 20 December 2015]