Store Arden / Storarden

Listed in Mackeprang (1941) as a baptismal font of Himmerland-Mariagertyppen, Mariagergruppen-A. Noted and illustrated in Slomann (1967). Described and illustrated in the Ålborg Stift web site [http://aalborgstift.dk/kirker/hadsund/storarden-kirke/dobefont/] [accessed 5 August 2016]: roughly hemispherical basin decorated with two pairs of lions with ornate manes and tails, three of which end in floral-like tufts while the forth is shaped like a dragon's (?) head; each pair shares a schematic human head, one with upturned mustache, the other has them downturned; the legs have that strange stance of seemingly floating in the air; there is an arm-less human male figure framed by the hindquarters of one on the lion pairs on the west side of the basin; he is naked from the waste up, with pronounced round breasts; he wears a skirt tied at the waist; the lion tails cross in front of him creating an X in front of his upper chest before disappearing beneath the animals' hind legs and appearing again behind their hindquarters; on the east side, which faces the wall, is another human figure framed in the hindquarters of the second pair of lions; this source identifies it as a female; the figure is covered, wearing a blouse and a plated skirt, with no female attributes evident; the stance is much the same as that of the other figure and there are no arms visible here either; the lions' tails cross in front of this figure in the same manner as they do in front of the other figure; the basin stands on a squat round-to-square lower base decorated with spurs at the angles, balls and other motifs on the sides between. There is no cover present nor are any metal anchorings evident in the upper rim. A round shallow baptismal dish made of metal is in use.