Husum / Hüsem / Husembro

Baptismal font in the new parish church at Husum, noted and illustrated in the parish web site St. Marien Kirchengemeinde Husum [www.st-marien-husum.de/seiten/st_marien/kirche/die_taufe.php] [accessed 29 April 2018]. The font was originally in the old church at Husum [demolished in 1807], located in the chancel within a brass railing. A second casting of this baptism is located in the ev. St. Marienkirche in Hattstedt. The font is made of gilded bronze in 1643, the gift of Marcus Lüders; it was cast by the "Rotgießer" Lorens Karstensen after designs by Bernd Cornelissen, of Husum. The font consists of a basin with a polygonal upper rim [dodecagonal?] beneath which are placed six female [?] demi-figures framed in fancy vegetal ornament; between these demi-figures are rounded cartouches containg incised inscriptions; the main sides of the basin have six sranding figures facing outwards; they appear to be Apostles, one of whom is young and carries a chalice in his left hand [John?]; others appear to have lost their identifying symbols; between the figures are arches with impossible vegetal arch-heads resting on architecturally correct columns; some of the arches are blank; one arch contains a Baptism of Christ in the Jordan scene; next to it, on the right, a shield bearing a coat of arms, which the source above suggests it belongs to the donor, Marcus Lüders; in the arch left of Baptism of Christ is an inscription identifying the maker of the font, Lorens Karstensen; the lower basin side is round and has an incised inscription on it; the basin has four thick pivots set at 90-degree angles on the underbowl; these pivots fit into extensions at the back of the necks of the four supporting figures below, and are secured to them by nut-and-bolt rods, which, together with the lower base, make the font a six-part object; each of the four figures of the base holds a book; each book is inscribed with a text and the name of the Evangelist (except Matthew's); three of the Evangelists, John, Luke and Mark, have a small animal at their feet (eagle, ox and lion); the four figures rest on a square lower base. The original wooden lid has been lost.