Subtitle:

Mediaeval anthropomorphic handles (an attempt at their classification and interpretation)

Institutional creator:

Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla ; Uniwersytet Warszawski. Wydział Archeologii

Publisher:

IH PAN

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Description:

Wydanie I. ; 229 pages, 1 page unnumbered, [12] leaves of plates folded : illustrations ; 24 cm ; Bibliography (pages 214-224). Index ; Publication supported by University of Warsaw ; Summary in English

Abstract:

The subject of the research is a group of mediaeval, anthropomorphic handles of small tools – knives, pins used for styling hair, and ear scoops (spatulas) – with single and double representations of complete standing human figures. In terms of the subject matter and presented symbols, places of production, the material used, the artistic level and technique of craft and their intended use, they do not constitute a uniform group. The decoration of knife handles with human figures, known in the Roman era, revived in the Middle Ages in Western Europe. The current state of research makes it possible to observe that instruments with such handles were widespread throughout Central and Western Europe, including northern Italy, the British Isles, Scandinavia, and the south-eastern Baltic zone. However only knives were so widely spread. After excluding artefacts of unknown provenance, it can be said that other tools with such handles have been found so far only in the territory of France, Belgium and the British Isles. The collected and analysed group includes 160 items. One of the research aims was to determine the artefacts’ features that would allow systematising, and thus creating a system of classification of the handles. It was possible to distinguish six types of the analysed artefacts. They are based on the types of props accompanying the images of single figures or their absence and representations of the two figures. Within these types, the subtypes, varieties and variants have been distinguished

Detailed Resource Type:

Book

Resource Identifier:

oai:rcin.org.pl:239806 ; 978-83-65880-96-3

Source:

IH PAN, call no. II.15220 ; IH PAN, call no. II.15219 Podr. ; click here to follow the link

Language:

pol

Language of abstract:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-NC-ND 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of History PAS

Access:

Open