Muden No. 1 / Müden Örtze / Müden an der Örtze / Mueden / Mutha in pago Muthiwide

Baptismal font of stone consisting of an octagonal basin with rounded underbowl; the decoration is a band of arch-heads below a groove all around; the arch-heads, pointed and trefoiled, alternate all around; mounted on a polygonal [dodecagonal?] stem and a moulded lower base also polygonal [dodecagonal?]. There is damage to the upper rim area of the basin, probably related to metal staples of the cover anchors; there is also damage to the base sides, which appear to have been covered by cement (?) in parts. There is no cover present. This may be an early font from this church, later discarded and replaced by the later bronze font still in use . The Lüneberger Heide site [https://www.lueneburger-heide.de/service/sehenswuerdigkeit/337/mueden-laurentius-kirche.html] [accessed 19 April 2018] informs that the old stone basin was found in a farm in the 19th century in nearby Gerdehaus, where is was being used to store/mix the ash used for washing; from there it went to the museum in Hannover; the base was found in the 1980s under the staircase to the tower in Laurentiuskirche itself; the two were put together agin and are now back inside the church. [cf. Index entry Muden (Ortze) No. 2 for the later bronze font here].