{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O41429"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O41429/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BK4591/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BK4591/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BK4591","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BK4589","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9679","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9681","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O41429/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O41429","accessionNumber":"REPRO.1885-201","objectType":"Font","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The font is elaborately decorated with ornament interlaced around its base. Winged griffins and mythical birds adorn the bowl. It was one of several Scandinavian plaster casts acquired by the Museum from Sweden in the 1880s, when there was a strong Victorian interest in medieval Scandinavian art.","physicalDescription":"Plaster cast of a font decorated with ornament interlaced around its base and depicting winged griffins and mythical birds on the bowl.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"},{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted plaster cast","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Architecture","id":"THES48993"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Plaster Cast","id":"THES270451"},{"text":"Cast Courts","id":"THES280650"},{"text":"Architectural fittings","id":"THES48994"},{"text":"Copies and Facsimiles","id":"THES253072"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006BK4591","2006BK4589","2019LY9679","2019LY9681"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"46A (VA)","id":"THES49799"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"C","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Copy of a Font","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Sweden","id":"x29198"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Copy"},{"place":{"text":"Sweden","id":"x29198"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Original"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1885","earliest":"1880-01-01","latest":"1889-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Copy"},{"date":{"text":"1000-1100","earliest":"1000-01-01","latest":"1100-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Original"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"69","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"64","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Cast of a font depicting winged griffins and mythical birds made in plaster in Sweden about 1885 and purchased from the National Museum, Stockholm in 1885 for £6 17s. The original was made in stone by an unknown artist in Sweden, 1000-1100.","historicalContext":"Making plaster copies is a centuries-old tradition that reached the height of its popularity during the 19th century. The V&A's casts are of large-scale architectural and sculptural works as well as small scale, jewelled book covers and ivory plaques, these last known as fictile ivories. \r\n\r\nThe Museum commissioned casts directly from makers and acquired others in exchange. Oronzio Lelli, of Florence was a key overseas supplier while, in London, Giovanni Franchi and Domenico Brucciani upheld a strong Italian tradition as highly-skilled mould-makers, or formatori.\r\n\r\nSome casts are highly accurate depictions of original works, whilst others are more selective, replicating the outer surface of the original work, rather than its whole structure. Like a photograph, they record the moment the cast was taken: alterations, repairs and the wear and tear of age are all reproduced in the copies. The plasters can also be re-worked, so that their appearance differs slightly from the original from which they were taken.\r\n\r\nTo make a plaster cast, a negative mould has to be taken of the original object. The initial mould could be made from one of several ways. A flexible mould could be made by mixing wax with gutta-percha, a rubbery latex product taken from tropical trees. These two substances formed a mould that had a slightly elastic quality, so that it could easily be removed from the original object. Moulds were also made from gelatine, plaster or clay, and could then be used to create a plaster mould to use for casting. \r\nWhen mixed with water, plaster can be poured into a prepared mould, allowed to set, and can be removed to produce a finished solid form. The moulds are coated with a separating or paring agent to prevent the newly poured plaster sticking to them. The smooth liquid state and slight expansion while setting allowed the quick drying plaster to infill even the most intricate contours of a mould. \r\nFlatter, smaller objects in low relief usually require only one mould to cast the object. For more complex objects, with a raised surface, the mould would have to be made from a number of sections, known as piece-moulds. These pieces are held together in the so-called mother-mould, in order to create a mould of the whole object. Once the object has been cast from this mother-mould, the piece-moulds can be easily removed one by one, to create a cast of the three-dimensional object.","briefDescription":"Plaster cast of a font depicting winged griffins and mythical birds made in Sweden about 1885. The original was made in 1000-1100.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Copy","id":"THES48865"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"fonts (religious building fixtures)","id":"AAT80617"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Cast of\r\nUnknown artist\r\nFont\r\n1000–1100\n\nThe font is elaborately decorated with ornament interlaced around its base. Winged griffins and mythical birds adorn the bowl. It was one of several Scandinavian plaster casts acquired by the Museum from Sweden in the 1880s, when there was a strong Victorian interest in medieval Scandinavian art.\n\nCast\r\nAbout 1885\r\nPainted plaster\r\nThe church of Svanhals, Östergötland, Sweden\r\nPurchased from the National Museum, Stockholm in 1885\r\nMuseum no. Repro.1885-201\n\nOriginal\r\nCarved stone\r\nSweden\r\nNational Museum, Stockholm","date":{"text":"21/06/2018","earliest":"2018-06-21","latest":"2018-06-21"}},{"text":"This plaster cast reproduces an elaborately carved 12th-century stone font, with interlaced ornament around the base and winged griffins and mythical birds with long tongues on the bowl. The original font was once in the church of Svanhals, in the region of Östergötland, Sweden. In 1861 it was discovered in the garden of the nearby manor house at Kyleberg by the antiquarian P.A. Säve, and was given to the National Museum in Stockholm in 1862. The baptismal font currently in Svanshals church dates from the second half of the 17th century, which suggests that the medieval font was by then no longer being used in the church. The medieval font was probably removed from Svanshals to be used as a garden ornament at Kyleberg. However it is not known when this occurred. The plaster cast was one of several Scandinavian casts acquired by the Museum from Sweden in the 1880s, when there was a strong interest in medieval Scandinavian art.\r\n\r\nHolly Trusted","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["REPRO.1885-201"],"accessionNumberNum":"201","accessionNumberPrefix":"REPRO","accessionYear":1885,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-22","recordCreationDate":"2000-07-10","availableToBook":false}}