Twenterand / Den Ham / Tweanteraand

Noted and illustrated in G.J. ter Kuile (1927) [cf. infra], which narrates the author's surprise encounter with the font being used as a horse trough/manger in a farm, its removal and acquisition for the then Oudheidkamer Twente. Described and illustrated in Herman Dasselaar's 'Romaans dopvont' 13 October 2013 [https://hermandasselaar.nl/?p=968] [accessed 24 September 2021]. The entry for this font in the Collectie Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede. Bruikleen Vereniging Oudheidkamer Twente-Enschede [https://collectie.rijksmuseumtwenthe.nl/zoeken-in-de-collectie/detail/id/ba8cd209-b43f-5ced-a07c-8edbe87aef8f] [accessed 24 September 2021] reads: "De prachtig rijk bewerkte robuuste Romaanse doopvont van Bentheimer zandsteen bezit aan de bovenkant een sponning waarin vroeger het deksel paste. De scharnierpunten maar ook de sluiting zijn nog goed herkenbaar in de rand waar te nemen. Vroeger moesten de vonten afsluitbaar zijn om te voorkomen dat onverlaten het doopwater gingen gebruiken voor tovenarij en duistere rituelen. De kuip loopt aan de binnenzijde enigszins conisch toe en is aan de buitenzijde voorzien van twee gehakte touwbanden in visgraat motief waartussen een fries met een slingerende rank met vruchten. Hieronder een verticaal gebouchardeerd veld. De kuip wordt gedragen door een ronde zuil. Op de vier hoekpunten staan kopgewende leeuwen met hun voorpoten tegen de zuil en hun achterpoten rusten op de hoekpunten van het vierkante voetstuk. Van de vont in het Rijksmuseum Twente is bekend dat het is teruggevonden in de nabijheid van Den Ham, namelijk in Daarle op de boerderij “het Janshuis”, waar het als paardenkrib in gebruik was. Een foto van de doopvont zoals deze door Mr. G.J. ter Kuile in 1927 werd aangetroffen kunt u zien in de link ‘Romaans doopvont’." ***FREE TRANSLATIONS BELOW COURTESY OF POL HERMAN*** Source : Reformatorisch Dagblad (Netherlands) Date of publication : 08-12-2005 Auteur : Ds. M. van Kooten Free translation of relevant paragraphs : Baptismal font used as manger After the Reformation, the large copper and stone baptismal fonts, in the baptistery or near the entrance of the tower, were removed from the churches or even destroyed. This was often because of the images on the font, as well as what was considered to be the superstition that often accompanied Roman baptism. In place of the removed catholic baptismal fonts, small baptismal basins were installed, which were attached to the pulpit to symbolize that Word and Sacrament should be united. Sometimes the baptismal basin was even hung at bible height on the pulpit, in order to make the sacrament visible to the entire congregation. The father would then stand on a baptismal chair next to the pulpit to hold up his child for baptizing. The old baptismal fonts were treated extremely rigorously. If the "city enforcer" Frederik Hendrik, who liberated many places from Spanish tyranny in the second part of the Eighty Years' War, had not stopped it, the large copper baptismal fonts - such as in Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch and Zutphen - would also have been subject to the demolition hammer, when he reclaimed these churches for Reformed worship. The removed stone baptismal fonts were often buried in the cemetery or in the church. During the restoration of the church in Almen (Gelderland) the baptismal font was found under the floor of the church tower. In Nieuw-Loosdrecht the font was found buried in the rectory garden. During the restoration of the Grote or Sint-Michaelskerk in Oudewater in 1850, a beautiful octagonal bluestone baptismal font was discovered in the ground. Not all baptismal fonts were buried. Many baptismal fonts were used for other purposes. There are those that were used to collect the water from the church gutter. This was especially the case with baptismal fonts that resembled a barrel, in which children were actually immersed. The baptismal font of the Dorpskerk in Houten has adorned the rectory garden for years as a flower pot. It was Rev. J. van der Haar who committed himself to the rehabilitation of this liturgical object. The baptismal font of the Oude Kerk of Ermelo was found reversed outside the church. After church time the sexton held his "church speech": he shared with churchgoers all kinds of village news that did not belong in the pulpit. The unique baptismal font of the Oude Kerk in Haamstede served for years as a trough for cattle in a meadow behind a beer brewery near the church. In the Roman Catholic Church of Papendrecht is a baptismal font that comes from a monastery that was lost during the St. Elizabeth's Flood. That font was discovered in 1940 at a farmer in Kijfhoek. He had used the octagonal stone bowl as a feeding trough for the cows. This was also the case with the old baptismal font of Den Ham or Hellendoorn - the archaeologists do not agree on the place of origin. In any case, the historian G. J. ter Kuile discovered the font on a farm part. He writes about this in the book "Twentsche Eigenheimers" as follows: "On a rare beautiful autumn day, September 1927, I cycled near Made and Daarle under Hellendoorn, beautiful quiet wide country, until a flat bicycle tire made me enter the part of a lonely Daarler farm. I made a suitable introductory talk with the farmer about his cattle and horse, when my eye fell on the horse manger. I couldn't believe my eyes. Three quarters of it bricked in and therefore largely out of sight, a beautifully richly decorated Romanesque font revealed itself to me, humiliated to this very profane use! In short (careful and lengthy consultation and negotiation followed, of course!), the Bentheimer-type stone baptismal font richly decorated with vine and line decorations was finally freed. Authorized researchers defined it as a pure, stylish Romanesque baptismal font, originating from the Oude Kerk in Den Ham. This outstanding monument has now become a jewel of the Rijksmuseum Twente in Enschede." The book by G. J. ter Kuile includes a photo of the baptismal font on the part of the Daarler farm. A horse is standing at the font. It is incomprehensible that the objects used to administer the sacrament of holy baptism to the children of the faithful were treated in this way. A baptismal font as a feeding trough.   Source : Website Herman Dasselaar Date of publication : 13th of October 2013 Auteur : Herman Dasselaar Free translation of relevant paragraphs : After the Reformation, everything that reminded of Roman Catholic worship such as altars, statues and the like was removed from the Protestant churches. The stone baptismal fonts, which were usually richly decorated and therefore no longer acceptable, were also banned. These baptismal fonts were often located on the west side, the secular part, in the nave of the church or also under the tower. Traditions of the “iconoclasm” in Den Ham have not survived. But, just like elsewhere in Salland, in view of the folk character, it will not have run as smoothly at first. After Calvinism got more and more grip on the ins and outs of the church, the finishing touches were put on. Often it was not a local initiative, but church boards from above were instructed to fulfil their duties. For example, the often richly decorated baptismal fonts disappeared from the Protestant church interiors, they were smashed to pieces or were used for road surfacing. Sometimes they were stored in a lost corner under the tower, they served as flower boxes in gardens, feeding troughs for the cattle or cooling troughs at the blacksmith's, as happened in Valth. The font in the Rijksmuseum Twente is known to have been found in the vicinity of Den Ham, namely in Daarle on the farm "het Janshuis". It was discovered by Mrs. Schutte in the 1920’s. She was a school teacher in Daarle at the time. Now the story goes that it had been used there since 1806 as a horse manger and it was bought for ten guilders in Den Ham and transported to Daarle by ox cart. In itself a very credible story, because the inhabitants of Daarle used to go to church in Den Ham and were dependent on this church village for many things. Mr. G.J. ter Kuile, a prominent historian, mentions that in September 1927 he got a flat tire while cycling near Daarle, entered a lonely Daarler farm and, to his great surprise, found a richly decorated Romanesque baptismal font in use as a horse manger. After careful negotiations, he acquired it for the then Oudheidkamer Twente. He has it examined and it turns out that it comes from the church of Den Ham. Later on, for unclear reasons, it is also assumed that it could have come from Hellendoorn. But whoever has any geographical knowledge, then and now, and who takes into account the above story, soon comes to the conclusion that this must be very unlikely. The beautifully richly decorated robust Romanesque baptismal font of Bentheimer sandstone now stands lonely in a lost corner in the Rijksmuseum Twente. Bibliography : Tubantia 16 april 1997, Ontsloten verleden van H. Konijnenberg sr., publicatie mevr. Schönlank-van der Wal 1994.   Source : Website Canon Van Nederland Date of publication : Auteur : Free translation of relevant paragraphs : The baptismal font of Daarle. Ca. 1200 Bibliography : - Janse, P. en Vis, Z., Rondom kerk en toren, de eeuwenoude kerk van Hellendoorn (Nijverdal 1990). - Marsman, B.D., Daarle; ontdekkingen langs erf, esch en wueste (Daarle 2001). From baptismal font to horse manger Until 1927, on the Janshuis estate in Daarle, there was a beautifully decorated baptismal font dating from around 1200, decorated with grapevines and line decoration, made of Bentheimer sandstone. Three quarters of it was bricked in as a feeding trough for horses. After it was bought for the Rijksmuseum Twente, all kinds of guesses were made about its origin. One of the theories is that it originates from an old church or chapel around Daarle. During the Reformation it would have been removed from that church and ended up somewhere in the immediate vicinity. It was quite normal for objects reminiscent of the ancient teachings to be desecrated by using them for daily use. For example, altar stones were used as steps, statues of saints had their faces cut away and wall paintings were painted over. Hellendoorn and Den Ham also claim the baptismal font, but to date there is no conclusive evidence for any of the theories. The only established fact is that the find was made in Daarle. The farm where the baptismal font was found was built with building materials from an older farm that probably stood in the core of Daarle. However, the first mention of the farm dates from 1798, which would mean that the baptismal font was brought to the farm from elsewhere in the early 19th century. Since it was precisely at that time that such fonts were restored, it is more likely that the object was moved together with the relocation of the yard. It could then possibly come from the Klein Johannink property, which was found in the centre of the village of Daarle and which disappeared over time. This farm stood next to or in the immediate vicinity of the presumed site of the first chapel in Daarle. After the chapel was demolished, the baptismal font would have ended up on the Johannink estate, and in the course of history would have been relegated to a horse manger.   Source : Noord- en Oost-Salland Date of publication : 1974 Auteur : E.H. ter Kuile Free translation of relevant paragraphs : To our knowledge, the parish of Den Ham is first mentioned in 1333. (Ork. Ov. iv no. 1033). When a Romanesque baptismal font was discovered in a farm below Daarle in 1917, which served as a horse trough, A.E. Rientjes stated that this baptismal font had come to Daarle in 1840 with the demolition of the old church in Den Ham, so that the parish of Den Ham would certainly go back to the middle of 13th century (Rientjes in Het Gildeboek 1928 p. 57) The font was transferred to the Rijksmuseum Twente in Enschede. The assumption of the late Rientjes seems very doubtful to us; it seems to us that the baptismal font is rather that of the old church of Hellendoorn.