Bunschoten No. 1 / Bunschooten / Bunschoots / Bunsjoten

Two stone heads located in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden at Leiden have been mistakenly [cf. infra] described as belonging to the baptismal font now in use at the parish church of Bunschoten, and object listed in BSI as Bunschoten No. 2, and identified a holy water stoup, not a font. One of the heads is identified by the Museum with inventory number "U 1931/2.28", and described as a Romanesque male head, baptismal font. Very primitive form. Addition to the bottom, old bonding. Dimensions: 21,7 x 17,2 x 8,4 cm. Acquisition: donation February 1931. Origin: Netherlands, unknown provenance. In April 2021 local historian Arie ter Beek communicated to Pol Herman that there is a second such head in the museum, a head of stone, chopped off at the neck, the top of ithe head flat. This second fragment is identified in the Museum with inventory number "f 1927/4.1". Dimensions: 22,5 x 17 x 17,5 cm. Acquisition: donation April 1927. Origin: Netherlands, Bunschoten. In his study of the second head Arie ter Beek resolves that this head was cut off from the object now used as font in the parish church at Bunschoten [cf. supra]: "The question then is why the head of the baptismal font was cut off and it ended up outside the church. Perhaps an attempt was made to preserve the baptismal font by chopping off the heads and the baptismal font was severely damaged in the process. This may mean that there may still be two or three heads hidden in the ground around the church. But it is also possible that they were excavated at the same time as the preserved specimen. Fortunately, the baptismal font has been preserved, so that a piece of history that recalls the Reformation can still be seen in the place where it belongs to this day. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the stone head that has found a place far away in a museum in Leiden." And, on the present 'font' at Bunschoten, "For decades, a part of the baptismal font stood at a former inn in the Dorpsstraat. A part because a piece of the 'bowl' had broken off. Chiselled heads were no longer attached to it at all. In 1976 it was restored and, incidentally without the heads, it was put back into use as a baptismal font." [NB: English translation of the original Dutch text provided bto BSI by Pol Herman]. In communication from Pol Herman to BSI (e-mail of 24 January 2022] he writes: "When I see the baptismal font at Bunschoten, I do not have the impression that it ever carried heads. The look of the font is that of a 15th century, Gothic, Mosan, holy water stoup. It is possible that the heavy restoration of the damaged basin has hidden the traces of the chopped-off heads. However, the style of the Romanesque head in the museum does not fit the preserved basin at all. Therefore, I conclude that there originally were 2 objects: 1) a Romanesque baptismal font with 4 heads, lost and only one[two?] head remaining, and 2) a Gothic stoup without heads, now used as font." Pol Herman's argument and identification accounts for the late date of the former stoup, now used as font inside the church, and for the two heads in the museum [cf. supra].