Tag: Relic

NOW: Namur Reliquary Purse 229F

After a brief hiatus due to surgery, I bring you another Nalbound Object of the Week. This artifact was mentioned as an aside in an article about Pierre de Courpalay’s gloves (which will be a later post) and for the longest time I could find no more information about it other than it was supposedly an early 14th century green silk reliquary pouch from Namur, Belgium worked in space patterned Simple Looping with a carried thread. There was a stitch diagram, but no picture. My friend Ann Moreau took up the quest to track down more information and was able to provide me with a photograph and a couple of very interesting sources: a master’s thesis and the conservation report.

Photo credit: Bazzo, Stéphane, IRPA
CC BY 4.0 KIK-IRPA, Brussels (Belgium), cliché X142949

Object: Namur Reliquary Purse

Description: The purse measures approximately 6.5 inches by 6.3 inches (16.5 x 16cm) not inclusive of the tassels or ties.1 The main body is worked in a pattern of diamonds enclosing four smaller diamonds that is regular on the face, but shows an error in the pattern at the top of the reverse turning it into chevrons.2 There’s a strip of plain green on each side and a green eyelet band at the opening.

The pictures show that the main body of the purse was not worked in the round. Had it been worked around the purse, the slits in the space patterned Simple Looping would have been horizontal like those seen making eyelets on the green eyelet band. However, the slits in the main body are vertical, indicating that the fabric orientation has the base row along the right side of the face (left side of the reverse) and the fabric was built up to the left side. There is no noticeable seam showing at the bottom. All of which may indicate that the face and reverse were worked as one rectangle, sewn up the sides, and then the eyelet band worked around the opening.

The relic purse was classified as a Treasure by the Commission consultative du Patrimoine culturel mobilier [Consultative Commission for Movable Cultural Heritage] on October 4, 2021.3

Dated to: radiocarbon dated to ca 1260-1390 CE4 (77.4% certainty between 1260 and 1310)5

Find location: prieuré de Hastière [Priory of Hastière], Belgium.6 Donated in 1885 by M. Perpète Sarton and recorded as register number 16166 along with another purse.7

Material: Silk. The tassels include gilded silver metallic threads.8 “The beige and pink threads of the lining are colored with safflower and a dye containing traces of flavonoids, the green thread of the fringes with woad or indigo, and the beige thread of the boucle network with red wood.”9

Stitch(es) used: le réseau bouclé simple10 The opening is worked horizontally in Z-crossed Simple Looping, F1 O, with a carried thread leaving holes for the drawstring. The main body is worked vertically, also in Z-crossed Simple Looping, F1 O, with a carried thread worked with space patterning to make the diamond/chevron pattern of holes. (Stitch determination verified via photograph by Anne Marie Decker)

Inventory number: 229F

Current location: Owned by the Société Archéologique de Namur (SAN). Exhibited in the Musée Provincial des Arts Anciens Namurois (TreM.a).11

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/11045822

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Damen, Emma, Griet Kockelkoren, Judith Goris, Ina Vanden Berghe, Marina Van Bos, and Mathieu Boudin. “Étude technico-matérielle et traitement de conservation, préservation et présentation de 7 bourses à reliques de la Société Archéologique de Namur (SAN).” Report on IRPS dossier 2017.13760 dated 9 September 2021.

De Ceuninck, Emmeline. “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1 et 2.”Master en Histoire de l’Art et Archéologie Mémoire [Master’s thesis], Université Libre de Bruxelles, Année académique 2022-2023.

Desrosiers, Sophie, Patricia Dal-Pra, and Isabelle Bédat. “On medieval pontifical gloves and glove medallions and wristbands found in France,” In [Archäologische Textilfunde/Archaeological Textiles] NESAT IX. ed. Antoinette Rast-Eicher and Renata Windler, p. 159-165. Ennenda: Archeo Tex, 2007. ISBN 978-3-033-01267-7.

Gagneux-Granade, Marguerite. L’Homme et les Mailles: histoire critique des mailles textiles : filets, réseaux, tricot, crochet. Bordeaux: Éditions INsensées, 2016. ISBN 978-2-9558095-0-1.

Photographs:

Cropped close up of eyelet band and body.
Photo credit: Bazzo, Stéphane, IRPA
CC BY 4.0 KIK-IRPA, Brussels (Belgium), cliché X142949
Cropped to show chevron pattern on reverse top.
Photo credit: Bazzo, Stéphane, IRPA
CC BY 4.0 KIK-IRPA, Brussels (Belgium), cliché X142950
Photo credit: Bazzo, Stéphane, IRPA
CC BY 4.0 KIK-IRPA, Brussels (Belgium), cliché X142950

Desrosiers’ “On medieval pontifical gloves and glove medallions and wristbands found in France” has a diagram of the stitches making the pattern of a portion of the diamond in Fig. 2b on page 160. The diagram is flawed as it shows a whip stitch instead of the Z-crossed Simple Looping. It is showing a B1 O which makes a whip stitch instead of the F1 O that makes Z-crossed Simple Looping. The loops have also been regularized to the top which does not match the direction of work.

De Ceuninck’s “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 2.” includes some lovely photos and schematics of the purse in Figs. 11, 12, 80 & Schéma 33, 34, 35, 36, 37.

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  1. Emmeline De Ceuninck,”Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 2.” (Master en Histoire de l’Art et Archéologie Mémoire [Master’s thesis], Université Libre de Bruxelles, Année académique 2022-2023), pg. 1. and Damen, Emma, et al. “Étude technico-matérielle et traitement de conservation, préservation et présentation de 7 bourses à reliques de la Société Archéologique de Namur (SAN).” Report on IRPS dossier 2017.13760 dated 9 September 2021. Pg. 10. ↩︎
  2. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 76. and Damen, Emma, et al. “Étude technico-matérielle et traitement de conservation, préservation et présentation de 7 bourses à reliques de la Société Archéologique de Namur (SAN).” Report on IRPS dossier 2017.13760 dated 9 September 2021. Pg. 10. ↩︎
  3. https://www.museedesartsanciens.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/TreM.a-MAAN_Rapport_Activites_2021.pdf III.5. Accessed 16 September 2024. ↩︎
  4. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 2,” pg. 108. ↩︎
  5. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 74. ↩︎
  6. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 28. See also page 79. ↩︎
  7. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 28. ↩︎
  8. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 76. ↩︎
  9. Translated from De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 74. See also pages 78-79. ↩︎
  10. De Ceuninck, “Étude historique, artistique et technologique de sept bourses conservées à la Société archéologique de Namur (SAN) et récemment restaurées à l’Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA). Volume 1,” pg. 75. and Damen, Emma, et al. “Étude technico-matérielle et traitement de conservation, préservation et présentation de 7 bourses à reliques de la Société Archéologique de Namur (SAN).” Report on IRPS dossier 2017.13760 dated 9 September 2021. Pg. 10. ↩︎
  11. Damen, Emma, et al. “Étude technico-matérielle et traitement de conservation, préservation et présentation de 7 bourses à reliques de la Société Archéologique de Namur (SAN).” Report on IRPS dossier 2017.13760 dated 9 September 2021. Pg. 3. ↩︎

St. Simeon’s hat

I am slowly working on a catalog of nalbound items, but in the meantime wanted to let you know about one that is currently on display! My friend, Libby Cripps, visited Trier today and sent back pictures of St. Simeon’s nalbound hat.

St. Simeon was born in Sicily, but went to school in Constantinople. He then went to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and eventually Mt. Sinai in Egypt before living as a hermit near the Red Sea for a while. In 1026 CE he was sent to Rouen, France and after much roundabout travels ended up in Trier. He made one last pilgrimage to Jerusalem leaving in 1028 CE, but upon his return in 1030 CE he was enclosed in the Porto Negra (Black Gate) in Trier and lived as a recluse there until his death in 1035 CE.

Trier is located in Southwestern Germany near the border with Luxembourg and France. This hat is sometimes used as evidence of Viking Era nalbinding, but given St. Simeon’s life history and the fact that nalbinding of a similar structure has been found in Greece and in several objects in Egypt, that is a likely provenance. St. Simeon was in France/Germany for only two years of his life before he was enclosed shortly after returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

The hat is currently in the Treasury of the Trier Cathedral. Visiting information can be found at: https://www.trier-info.de/en/museums/cathedral-treasury

For additional photographs from Libby’s trip to Trier, you can take a look at her Facebook page:

For a view of the entire hat: https://www.trierer-original.de/Uns-Trier/spektakulaere-Bauwerke/Porta-Nigra-51622.html Scroll down just under half the page to figure 4.2. Click on it for a larger/higher resolution photograph of the St. Simeon’s hat.

Another image of St. Simeon’s hat

I’ll be pulling together more information regarding the cap in the future, but wanted to share these lovely photographs that Libby so kindly let me use.