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Christmas Crib
attributed to Borman workshop, c. 1500 - c. 1510
Christmas cribs were used for private worship at home, and in cloisters and churches too. On Christmas day, a crib was placed on the high altar and churchgoers would bring their own cribs. As the priest shook the crib and began to sing, the congregation would join in. The church would fill with the sound of Christmas carols and the chimes of the bells attached to the cribs.
- Artwork typekerstwieg
- Object numberBK-2013-14-1
- Dimensionsheight 62.5 cm x width 34.5 cm x depth 17.5 cm
- Physical characteristicsoak and bone
Stories


Identification
Title(s)
Christmas Crib
Object type
Object number
BK-2013-14-1
Description
Een kerstwieg in gotische stijl, bestaande uit een rechthoekig, blokvormig voetstuk rustend op vier liggende leeuwen en op de hoeken ingezwenkt. Het voetstuk is rondom versierd met gotisch ajour traceerwerk. Op het voetstuk staat een opgaande gotische boog, bekroond door pinakels en getrordeerde zuilen en is in de bovenzone versierd met 'gebroken' gotisch traceerwerk. In de boog hangt een gotische wieg, die schommelt op twee benen staven. De wieg is eveneens versierd met ajour traceerwerk, en wordt op de hoeken bekroond door pinakels. Bij de wieg is een gepolychromeerd houten, naakt Christuskind, dat niet oorspronkelijk is (BK-2013-14-2).
Part of catalogue
Catalogue reference
- Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité de l'antiquité et du Moyen Âge, de la Renaissance et autres ... formant la collection de M. Arthur Sambon, Paris (Galerie Georges Petit), 25-28 mei 1914, nr. 389.
- I. Ippel, 'A Christmas Crib as a Meek Heart of the Late Mediaeval Christian', The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 62 (2014) nr. 4, p. 330-347.
Creation
Creation
sculptor: attributed to Borman workshop, Brussels
Dating
c. 1500 - c. 1510
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Material and technique
Physical description
oak and bone
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height 62.5 cm x width 34.5 cm x depth 17.5 cm
Acquisition and rights
Credit line
Purchased with the support of the Frits en Phine Verhaaff Fonds/ Rijksmuseum Fonds and the Ebus Fonds/ Rijksmuseum Fonds
Acquisition
purchase 2013
Copyright
Provenance
? Commissioned by members of the Cockaert and Van Cattenbroeck families, Brussels, possibly Gérard Cockaert (d. 1546) and his wife Marguerite-Madeleine van Cattenbroeck (d. 1540), c. 1500-10; …; unknown hospital, Tienen (Tirlemont), Belgium, before 1914; …; sale collection Arthur Sambon (1867 <about:blank>-1947 <about:blank>), Paris (Galerie Georges Petit), 25-28 May 1914, no. 389, frs. 3000, to ‘De Tinan’,{Copy RKD. This ‘De Tinan’ is certain to have been a member of the Le Barbier de Tinan family, who resided in the vicinity of Jumièges, most probably Maurice Le Barbier de Tinan (1842-1918).} for the Lepel-Cointet family and their ‘Musée de Jumièges’ (near Rouen); …; collection Charles Van Herck (1884-1955) and his heirs, in or after 1946; private collection, Antwerp; …; from the dealer Lucas J. Kumps, Antwerp,{Provenance reconstructed in I. Ippel, ‘A Christmas Crib as a Meek Heart of the Late Mediaeval Christian’, _The Rijksmuseum Bulletin_ 62 (2014), pp. 330-47, esp. pp. 341-43.} to Aimé Van Strydonck, Antwerp, c. 1998; his wife Mrs M. Van Strydonck-Dausy, Antwerp, 2011; from whom, including [BK-2013-14-2](https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20078897), €125,000, to the museum, with the support of the Frits en Phine Verhaaff Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds and the Ebus Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds, 25 September 2013
Documentation
- Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité de l'antiquité et du Moyen Âge, de la Renaissance et autres ... formant la collection de M. Arthur Sambon, Paris (Galerie Georges Petit), 25-28 mei 1914, nr. 389.
- I. Ippel, 'A Christmas Crib as a Meek Heart of the Late Mediaeval Christian', The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 62 (2014) nr. 4, p. 330-347.
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