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THE TRACERY-CARVED, CLAMP-FRONTED MEDIEVAL CHEST AT ST MARY MAGDALEN CHURCH, OXFORD, IN A COMPARATIVE NORTH-WEST EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2014

Christopher Pickvance
Christopher Pickvance*
Affiliation:
School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NF, UK. Email: C.G.Pickvance@kent.ac.uk
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Abstract

The St Mary Magdalen chest is striking because of its carved facade and has attracted the attention of historians over the last century. There has been debate about its age, culminating in the recent suggestion that it either dates to the fourteenth century or is a later copy. This paper makes a detailed study of all the elements of the chest, constructional and decorative, and compares them with features of related medieval chests in England and Continental north-western Europe. It concludes that the chest has gone through a major reconstruction involving replaced front stiles but that it shares at least four features with chests in north Germany and Sweden dating from around 1320–30 that are not found in English chests, suggesting that it is an imported chest or was made by craftsmen working in that tradition. Numerous areas for future research into the features of English and Continental medieval chests are identified.

Résumé

Le coffre de St Mary Magdalen est frappant à cause de sa façade avant sculptée et a attiré l'attention des historiens au cours du siècle dernier. Son ancienneté a fait l'objet de débats, et on a émis récemment l'hypothèse qu'il daterait du XIVe siècle ou serait une copie plus tardive. Cet article étudie tous les éléments du coffre dans les détails, que ce soit au niveau de la construction ou de la décoration, et les compare avec ceux de coffres médiévaux semblables d'Angleterre et du Nord-Ouest de l'Europe. Il conclut que le coffre a subi une reconstruction radicale qui a consisté à remplacer les montants du devant, mais qu'il partage au moins quatre caractéristiques avec les coffres du nord de l'Allemagne et de la Suède datant de vers 1320–30. Ces éléments, généralement absents des coffres anglais, indiquent que le coffre a été importé ou créé par des artisans formés à cette tradition. De nombreux domaines de recherche futurs concernant les caractéristiques des coffres médiévaux anglais et continentaux sont recensés.

Zusammenfassung

Die St Mary Magdalen Truhe ist aufgrund ihrer geschnitzten Vorderseite äußerst eindrucksvoll und sie hat die Aufmerksamkeit der Historiker über das vergangene Jahrhundert hin auf sich gezogen. Die Debatte über ihr Alter, gipfelte vor kurzem darin, dass sie entweder aus dem 14. Jahrhundert stammt oder eine spätere Kopie ist. Diese Abhandlung bringt eine ausführliche Studie sämtlicher Elemente der Truhe, sowohl konstruktiver als auch dekorativer Art, und vergleicht sie mit Merkmalen verwandter mittelalterlicher Truhen in England und dem nordwestlichen Kontinentaleuropa. Diese Untersuchung kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die Truhe eine erhebliche Rekonstruktion durchgemacht hat, bei der die vorderen Stollen ersetzt wurden, dass sie jedoch mindestens vier Merkmale mit Truhen in Norddeutschland und Schweden von ca. 1320–30 gemein hat, die nicht in englischen Truhen zu finden sind, was nahelegt, dass es sich um eine importierte Truhe handelt oder das Stück von Handwerkern gefertigt wurde, die in dieser Tradition arbeiteten. Zahlreiche Bereiche für die zukünftige Forschung über die Merkmale englischer und kontinentaler mittelalterlicher Truhen werden aufgezeigt.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 94 , September 2014 , pp. 153 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2014 

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