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Cave No. 200. Middle Tang. "The ceiling shows three rabbits (joining as one) and round petalled lotus designs in the centre". [PR: white on turquoise green, going clockwise.] Cave No. 205. Early and High Tang (renovated during Middle Tang and the Five Dynasties). Main Hall: "The ceiling has the three rabbits (joining as one) designs drawn in Early Tang". [Zhang & Rasmussen's letter of 1 Jun 2001 says the rabbits are going clockwise.] Cave No. 237. Middle Tang (renovated in Western Xia and Qing). Main Hall: "The ceiling shows the three rabbits (joining as one) and round petalled lotus designs in the centre." [Zhang & Rasmussen's letter of 1 Jun 2001 says the rabbits are going clockwise.] [PR: Cave No. 305. Sui (renovated during the Five Dynasties and Qing). "Rabbit paint is gone (only white silhouette remains on faint rusty red background)." See: Decorative Patterns in the Dunhuang Art; Li Kai et al; Zhang & Rasmussen's letter of 1 Jun 2001, which says the rabbits are going clockwise] Cave No. 358. Middle Tang (renovated during the Five Dynasties, Western Xia and Qing). "Main Hall: The caisson ceiling shows the three rabbits (joining as one) and round petalled lotus in the centre." [PR: white on turquoise, going clockwise, faded.] Cave No. 383. Sui (renovated during Song, Western Xia and Qing Dynasties). "Main Hall: The centre of the caisson ceiling shows the three rabbits (joining as one) and lotus flower designs". [PR: brown with white outlines, going clockwise, fair condition.] Cave No. 397. Sui and Early Tang (renovated during the Five Dynasties and Qing). "Main Hall: The caisson ceiling shows the three rabbits (joining as one) and lotus in the centre". [PR: white on peeled-off aqua green, going clockwise. Poor to fair condition.] Cave No. 406. Sui (renovated in Song and Qing). "The centre of the caisson ceiling shows four designs of a set of three rabbits (joining as one) and lotus". I don't quite understand his phrasing -- there is a picture of a pattern of three rabbits in the centre of a lotus, as in Cave 407, but perhaps there are other patterns which are not reproduced?? [PR: white on tan, going clockwise, faded, fair condition. Peter says nothing to clarify Duan's text.] Cave No. 407. Sui (renovated in Song and Qing). "Main Hall: The caisson ceiling is covered with the three rabbits, lotus designs and flying figures drawn in Sui." [PR: Black with white outline on turquoise green background, going anticlockwise, good to excellent condition.] [PR: Cave No. 420. Sui. Zhang & Rasmussen's letter of 1 Jun 2001 says the rabbits are going anticlockwise.] Cave No. 468. Middle Tang (renovated during the Five Dynasties). "Main Hall: The centre of caisson ceiling has three rabbits (joining as one) and a lotus design". [PR: white on turquoise, going clockwise.] CHRONOLOGY Tang is 618-907, but there is a Later Tang (923-936). Sui (581-618, so c600): 305, 383, 406, 407, 420. Sui and Early Tang (c620): 397. Early/Mid Tang (7-8C): 205. Mid Tang (8C): 200, 237, 358, 468. Mid/Late Tang (8-9C): 144. Late Tang (9-10C): 127, 139, 145, 147.
Decorative Patterns in the Dunhuang Art. 1996. This has no English text except for the book title. The dust jacket has a colour picture of a painting of the ceiling of cave 407. Otherwise it gives only black and white drawings of patterns. P. 31 is an introduction to a section and has an unidentified three rabbits pattern, probably from cave 407. P. 32 is cave 305. P. 33 is cave 397. Li Kai, chief designer; Zhao Le Nin & Luo Ke Hua, eds. The Selections of Copied Art Works of Dun Huang Sunk Panel. 1997. This presents various artists' paintings of the ceiling panels. Plate 21 is: Sui Dynasty "three rabbits and lotus flower" sunk panel (cave number 305). Plate 26 is: Sui Dynasty "three rabbit and flying Apsarase" sunk panel (cave number 407) copied by Duan Wen Jie. Plate 27 is: Sui Dynasty "three rabbits and flying Apsarase" sunk panel (cave number 407) copied by Guo Shi Qing and Chang Sha Na. This is reproduced on the cover of the book, but it has been reversed in printing in both places. The difference in coloration and even in the outlines show the difficulty of seeing what is present in a rather faded and damaged cave where the early artists had only daylight. Neither of these is the same as the cover of the previous item! See also Shuhong & Chegxian above for another version. Plate 32 is: Sui Dynasty sunk panel (the cave number is not recorded). Plate 26 is: Tang Dynasty sunk panel (cave number 205). Wei Zhang & Peter Rasmussen. Letter of 1 Jun 2001 reporting on their research and visit to Dunhuang. They have made good contacts there and were given a lengthy special tour. They have now found the three rabbits pattern occurs in 16 caves: 127, 139, 144, 145, 147, 200, 205, 237, 305, 358, 383, 397, 406, 407, 420 and 468, all in the Mogao caves and all as central ceiling panels. They were able to see 145 (late Tang, 848-906), 205 (Early Tang, 618-704), 237 (mid Tang, 781-847), 305 (Sui, 581-618), 407 (Sui, 581 618), 420 (Sui, 581-618). In the first four, the rabbits are going clockwise, in the last two, they are going anticlockwise. They also visited the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, but there was no sign of the three rabbits there. However, none of the researchers there has investigated the three rabbits pattern. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed, but they sent the previous two books and two reproductions from an otherwise unidentified book: Dunhuang of China (2000). P. 20 is: Hall With Inverted Funnel Shaped Ceiling Shape of Cave 305 (Sui Dynasty) and gives a good impression of the shape of these caves -- this one is roughly cubical with several statues, apparently life-size, on a central plinth, with a decorated ceiling with the Three Rabbits in the centre. The central part of the ceiling usually is a panel which is sunk into the ceiling, i.e. higher than the rest of the ceiling, but some have two steps and some are more rounded. [Greeves (2001)] suggests this is to represent a cloth canopy. Pp. 40-41 is: Pattern (ceiling) Cave 407 (Sui Dynasty), showing the whole ceiling and the tops of the walls.
In the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, is a glass medallion with the Three Hares pattern, attributed to Afghanistan. It is 52mm in diameter. The museum purchased it from a dealer and there is no record of its origin. Peter Rasmussen & Wei Zhang were shown it in mid 2002 by Dr. Jens Kröger, the Curator of Islamic Art at the museum. [Email from Rasmussen, 17 Aug 2002.] There is a description of it in Kröger's book and in Stefano Carboni; Glass from Islamic Lands; Thames & Hudson, 2001, pp. 272-280. This also describes a fragmentary glass piece with four rabbits in the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait, supposed to come from Ghazni, Afghanistan. [Email from Rasmussen, 20 Aug 2002.] Eva Wilson. Islamic Patterns (British Museum Pattern Books). British Museum Publications, 1988. Plate 42, bottom picture, is a four rabbits pattern. The notes on p. 19 say: Engraved design in the centre of a brass plate. Diameter 7cm. Iran, 12th century. British Museum, London (1956 7 26.12). [Greeves (2000)] reports a light blue glass seal from Afghanistan, c1200. In the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, is an oriental silver flask of 12/13C with the three rabbits on the base. Discussed and illustrated in Hamann-MacLean, below. A small illustration is in Baltrušaitis (Fig. 96D), cf under China, above, who says it comes from near Perm and has a Kufic inscription on it. Cf next entry. Vladislav P. Darkevich. Khudozhestvennyi metall Vostoka VII XIII. Nauka, Moskva, 1976, 195 pp. ??NYS – described by Peter Rasmussen [email of 8 Jan 2002] and photocopy of pl. 34 sent by him. See pp. 16, 17, 115 and Таблуца 34: Серебряные чаша у флакон 5 - 8: Селянино Озеро (No. 19) [Tablutsa 34: Serebryanye chasha u flakon: 5 - 8: Selyanino Ozero (Plate 34: Silver basin and flagon: 5 - 8: Salt(?) Lake)]. This is the Hermitage Museum silver flask. Fig. 5 is an overall view; fig. 6 is the bottom, which is rounded, rather like part of a sphere and has the three rabbits pattern; figs. 7 & 8 are the Kufic inscriptions. [Greeves (2000)] reports a fine metal tray from Iran, c1200, in the Keir Collection and gives a fine photo of it. He notes that Sassanian culture is believed to have spread outward and could have been the source for the Himalayan and Chinese versions as well as the western versions. Sue Andrew tells me that similar trays are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. [Greeves (2000)] reports that the pattern has been found in Nepalese temples and in c1200 wall paintings at the temple complex of Alchi in Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir. I can't find Alchi on maps, but a guide book says it is on the Indus about 1½ hours drive from Leh. Roger Goepper. Alchi: Buddhas, Göttinnen, Mandalas: Wandmalerei in einem Himalaya Kloster. DuMont Buchverlag, Köln, 1982, 110 pp. ??NYS -- photocopies sent by Peter Rasmussen. Another version appeared in 1996 -- ??NYS, described by Rasmussen [email of 21 Dec 2001], see below -- but the earlier book has different pictures. Rasmussen says this is about Sumtsek, the Buddhist temple at Alchi, Ladakh, presumably the temple mentioned by Greeves, above. Goepper dates the temple as c1200, but another author suggests 11C or 12C [Lionel Fournier; The Buddhist Paradise: The Murals at Alchi; 1982]. On p. 127 of the 1996 book is a photo of a 4.63 m high statue of Maitreya (the Buddha) wearing a dhoti on which Rasmussen finds no less than 50 (fifty!) examples of the three hares pattern. A close-up on p. 128 shows three complete examples. Goepper refers to these examples as 'three or four deer-like animals, the three long ears being shared ...', but Rasmussen could not see any examples with four animals and the text only refers to three ears. However, plate 7 of the 1982 book shows the same two roundels as on page 128 of the 1996 Alchi, but this illustration shows FOUR rabbits (sorry, hares) or deer or bulls (take your pick) in the upper left corner above Maya that were cropped out of the 1996 illustration, so Goepper's reference on page 126 of his 1996 book to "three or four deer like animals" was correct. In a note on p. 278 of the 1996 book, Goepper says the occurrence of the same pattern at Paderborn is 'hardly anything more than a coincidence'. Rasmussen finally notes that Goepper said the photographer, Jaroslav Poncar, and his group took about 3000 transparencies, a 'virtually complete documentation of the Alchi murals', but only 300 occur in the 1996 book. I have seen a B&W copy of Plate 7 of the 1982 edition. This has two images, each of a central character in a roundel surrounded by four frames in the form of a Greek cross with extra squares at the corners. (The colour image from the 1993 book, see below, shows these are adjacent, indeed overlapping, images.) These frames contain patterns of three and, in one case, four animals, but the identity of the animals is not clear. The four-fold pattern seems to be rabbits sharing ears, but others seem to be horses (or bulls) sharing ears or deer sharing antlers or possibly bulls sharing horns. All the animals are going clockwise. Sue Andrew has been in contact with Goepper & Poncar. Goepper said "just about a week ago I hinted at the 'intercultural' character of this strange motif during my lectures at Cologne University". Pratapaditya Pal. A Buddhist Paradise: The Murals of Alchi Western Himalayas. Ravi Kumar for Visual Dharma Publications Ltd., Hong Kong, 1982, 67 pp. ??NYS -- described by Peter Rasmussen [email of 4 Jan 2002]. Plate S9 shows Maitreya's full dhoti, S10 and S11 are closeups of the individual legs, and S12 and S13 are closeups of details. Lionel Fournier's photography is very poor in comparison to Poncar's. On pp. 51 52, Pal states "Interspersed with the rondels [sic] are little cruciform blocks adorned with leaping bulls, whose exact function is not clear, but which remind one of similar though more naturalistic bulls on the ceilings of Ajanta." So Goepper's deer are Pal's BULLS!!! But the interesting part of the sentence is the reference to the ceilings of Ajanta. It's not clear whether Pal means the Ajanta bulls are leaping in threes, but this statement reminded us that Terese Bartholomew of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum told us she thought she remembered the three animal motif being somewhere in the Ajanta caves. In an email of 8 Jan, Rasmussen reports that he has gone through all the Ajanta books at UC Berkeley and could only find an image of four deer sharing a single head -- details are in the Dead Dogs section. Roger Goepper. The 'Great Stupa' at Alchi. Artibus Asiae 53:1/2 (1993) 111-143. ??NYS -- photocopy sent by Peter Rasmussen. Figure 9: Deities in outer triangles of the ceiling. Photo by Poncar. This shows a number of three and four beast roundels forming a decorative band going out of the picture. as with the other Alchi images, it is hard to tell whether the beasts are rabbits, hares, bulls, etc., but they are clearly sharing ears here. all the beasts are going clockwise. James C. Y. Watt & Anne E. Wardwell. When Silk Was Gold Central Asian and Chinese Textiles. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Cooperation with The Cleveland Museum of Art, dist. by Abrams, nd [mid 1990s?, after 1993]. Section 45: Cloth of gold with rabbit wheels, p. 158, with a colour plate opposite (no number on my copy). This shows a square array of circles with four rabbits in each circle. The direction of the rabbits alternates from one row of circles to the next. It is from the 'Eastern Iranian world, second quarter to mid-13th century', i.e. c1240. The cloth has a green-gold colour, while the patterns are outlined with red silk, giving red-gold lines. A footnote says to consult Roes 1936-37, pp. 85 105 for the history of the motif of the animal wheel. Other notes cite Dunhuang, metalwork in Khurasan (1150-1225), the dhoti of the Maitreya at Sumtsek Temple in Alchi and the ceiling paintings of the Great Stupa in Alchi. The section goes on to discuss the 'two heads, four boys' motif - see under Dead Dogs, below. Sue Andrew, via Peter Rasmussen [email of 26 Dec 2001], reported finding this, but only gives Wardwell as author - perhaps she wrote this part, but this is not indicated on the photocopies sent by Rasmussen. Peter Rasmussen [email of 4 Jan 2002] says Wardwell's main source was Baltrušaitis, under China, above. However, Baltrušaitis doesn't mention several of the cited areas. [Greeves (2001)] reports a pre-Islamic Mongol coin from north Iran, dated 1281, with the three hares on one side. Jurgis Baltrušaitis. Le Moyen Age Fantastique,.... Op. cit. under China, above. Pp. 132 139 of the 1981 edition have many examples of three and four rabbits, four boys, etc. After discussing Dunhuang, he says the motif was taken on by Islam and cites the Petersburg cup. He says there is a Mogul (school of Akbar) miniature with the pattern. Roger Goepper. Alchi Ladakh's Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary. Serindia Publications, London, nd [1993?]. Colour image sent by Peter Rasmussen showing the two overlapping images of the dhoti of Maitreya shown in his 1982 book, above. However, this image is more centralised and hence shows only one of the three animals patterns completely, with parts of several others. In Cairo, the Museum of Islamic art has a fragment from the bottom of a bowl with a three rabbits pattern using three colours! It is their item 6939/1, coming from Egypt or Syria in the 12-13C. In 2001-2002, it was a featured item at the exhibition: L'Orient de Saladin L'Art des Ayyoubides at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. It is reproduced in the catalogue: Éric Delpont et al. L'Orient de Saladin L'Art des Ayyoubides. [Catalogue for] Exposition présentée à l'institut du monde arabe, Paris du 23 octobre 2001 au 10 mars 2002. Institut du monde arabe / Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2001. Item 111, p. 123, is 'Tesson aux trois lièvres'. A black on yellow version was adopted as the logo of the exhibition and hence appeared on many other items associated with the exhibition and on the advertisements for it. PADERBORN In the cloister (Kreuzgang) of the Cathedral (Dom) of Paderborn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, is the "Three Hares Window" (Dreihasenfenster), with hares instead of rabbits. This faces the outside, i.e. into the central garden of the cloister. I learned of this from the Michelin Green Guide - Germany (Michelin et Cie, Clermont-Ferrand, 1993, p. 229) and wrote a letter of enquiry. A response from Dr. Heribert Schmitz in the Archbishopric states that the present form of the cloister dates from the early 16C and this is the date given on a postcard he included (and in a local guidebook). ([Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001)] says probably 15C.) He also included a guide to the Cathedral, a poster and a copy of the parish magazine with the article by Schneider, see below. On 12 Jul 2000, I was able to visit Paderborn, see the window, meet Dr. Schmitz and obtain much more material. The image is actually carved stone tracery in the arch over one of the triple windows of the cloister, and is about 3 ft (1 m) across. The central stone image is supported only by the three rear feet of the hares which are on a circular rim -- the intermediate spaces are filled with leaded glass. The local guidebook refers to the mason as 'crafty', perhaps implying that he saved having to carve three more ears. Several of the photos show the bodies of the hares supported by metal rods, but there are presently no rods. Later inquiry revealed that the original version is now in the Cathedral Museum and the version in the cloister is a recent copy. The Cathedral guidebook refers to the 'well known' window and says the symbol is an old land-mark of the city and the poster describes it as a famous landmark to be studied and developed in a workshop for children. One guide book shows three people dressed as hares who are a regular feature of parties and celebrations. The Cathedral guidebook says the 'motif is also to be found in other buildings, but elsewhere is mostly smaller and less conspicuous', but no references are given and Dr. Schmitz's letter says that he knows of no other examples than Long Melford and the article by Schneider. Greeves, below, notes that St. Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans, came from Crediton, Devon, some 10 mi east of Dartmoor! Further, he consecrated a bishop at Paderborn. Hans Schneider. Symbolik des Hasenfensters in Nordwestchina entdeckt. Die Warte (Heimatzeitschrift für die Kreise Paderborn und Höxter) 32 (Dec 1981) 9. This was kindly provided by Dr. Schmitz of the Archbishopric of Paderborn. First Schneider gives various interpretations of the symbolism of the three hares pattern: old German fertility symbols from the myths of the gods; the Easter rabbit as a symbol of the eternal power of nature; a symbol of the Trinity. In recent years, it has been connected to the patron saint of Paderborn, St. Liborius, by viewing his name as Leporius, which means 'hare man'. But Schneider has discovered the article of Huang and gives a B&W reproduction of the picture. Schneider notes that Paderborn had connections with the Islamic world -- e.g. Achmed el Taruschi and a delegation came to Paderborn in 970, [and we know Charlemagne's court had contacts with Constantinople, Córdoba and Baghdad]. Hence it is possible that the Chinese symbol could have been transmitted to Paderborn [and elsewhere]. A small illustration is in Baltrušaitis (Fig. 96D), under China, above. On 12 Jul 2000 I was able to visit Paderborn and meet Dr. Schmitz. The way to the Dreihasenfenster is clearly signposted in the Cathedral and we found images of it elsewhere in the town, and the local guidebook mentions further locations, e.g. the Drei Hasen restaurant at 55 Königstrasse. I got an English version of the Cathedral guide and a children's guide to the Cathedral. I obtained two more postcards featuring the window and several multi-image postcards of Paderborn with the window as one image. I also bought a stained glass roundel of the pattern, 225mm (8 3/4") across. The city information office has the pattern on many of their guide books and I also got stickers, transfers, etc. I had met Michael Freude from Münster and he had recalled there was an example in Münster and that there was a children's rhyme about it, though he could not remember it, nor could his family. We stayed with Michael Freude and Hanno Hentrich in Münster and they had located the example in Münster, which is a roof boss in the southwest corner of the south transept of the Dom (Cathedral) (St. Paul's), over the organ. It is very high and I was unable to get a good picture of it. [Greeves (2000)] notes that it is stunning, but he told me that he also had been unable to get a good picture. Since the Dom was much restored after the War, I thought it might be a post-war addition, but Hentrich checked in a Münster history and photos showed this part of the Dom had survived. [Greeves (2000)] says it is early 16C. I told Dr. Schmitz of this example when I visited him and he did not know of it. Freude & Hentrich thought it likely that the Paderborn example was a replacement after the War. [Greeves (2000)] says there is an example in the cloisters of a former monastery at Hardehausen, S of Paderborn (but I can't locate this on my maps). Theodore Fockele & Ewald Regniet. Domführer für Jungen und Madchen. Metropolitan-Kapitel, Paderborn, (1982), 6th ptg, 1999. On p. 21 is a brief description and a drawing with caption being the rhyme: "Der Hasen und der Löffel drei, / und doch hat jeder Hase zwei." [The hares and ears are three, / and yet each hare has two[, you see].] This rhyme also occurs in the local guidebook and on one of the available postcards. Verkehrsverein Paderborn [Paderborn Tourist Information]. Paderborn A short guide to the old city. Paderborn, 1998, p. 13 and back cover. This says the window is early 16C and gives an English version of the rhyme: "Count the ears. There are but three. But still each hare has two, you see?" and I have now inserted 'you see' into my translation above. The pattern is printed on the outside covers of this booklet One of the postcards available in Paderborn has a longer poem.
Und hier ging jedem eins verloren. Das Soll ist sechs, das Ist nur drei. Und Schein und Sein sind zweierlei. Was führt der Steinmetz wohl im Schilde? Welch ein Gedanke liegt im Bilde? Die Ohren sitzen an der Stirne, Gehörtes fliess in drei Gehirne. Drittselbst wird hier somit bedacht, was Sorgen oder Freude macht. Vereint geht manches leichtes eben im Hasen- wie in Menschenleben. Und überdies ist, was ihr seht, 'ne Spielart von der Trinität. [With united powers and ears Every hare has two ears. And here each has lost one. There should be six, there are only three. And appearance and being are different. How can the stone mason make an emblem? What thought is in the picture? The ears sit on the forehead, which flow into three heads. A third itself is here thus considered, which makes fear or joy. United, many things go easily even in the life of hares as in the life of men. And moreover this is, as you see, a playful image of the Trinity.] Annemarie Schimmel. The Mystery of Numbers. (As: Das Mysterium der Zahl; Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Munich, 1984. Based on: Franz Carl Endres (1878-1954); Das Mysterium der Zahl, last edition of 1951. It's not clear when Schimmel's work was done -- the Preface is dated Sep 1991 and her © is dated 1993, so perhaps 1984 refers to the last printing of the original Endres book??) OUP, 1993, p. 63 has a drawing of the Paderborn three hares, but with no indication of the puzzle aspect. "Hares, symbols of the tri-unity that is always awake, seeing and hearing everything. Their ears form a triangle.". MEDIEVAL EUROPE There are 17 churches with 28 roof bosses of the Three Rabbits in Devon. The dating of these is not very exact and is not always given in the church guides. I have now discovered Cave's 1948 book which mentions many of these. See also Jenkins' book of 1999. Carl Schuster & Edmund Carpenter. Patterns That Connect Social Symbolism in Ancient & Tribal Art. Abrams, NY, 1996. Pp. 158-159, fig. 453, is a 12C European wind chart with a central demon face with four mouths, but it has four pairs of eyes. A stone boss supposed to come from a church demolished c1200 is built into a cellar of a house in Corbigny, Nièvre, Bourgogne, about 50km NE of Nevers. [Greeves (2000) with colour photo.] [Greeves (2001)] changes the name to Corbenay, but this is not in my French atlas.] [Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001)] says the pattern occurs on a bell from the early 13C in the great abbey church at Kloster Haina. I can't locate this on my maps, but there is a Haina, Hessen, about 40km SW of Kassel. Bestiary. MS Bodley 764, 1220-1250. ??NYS. Translated by Richard Barber as: Bestiary Being an English version of the Bodleian Library, Oxford M.S. Bodley 764 with all the original miniatures reproduced in facsimile; Folio Society, 1992; The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1993; PB, 1999. Pp. 66-67, the entry for hare is preceded by a 'four rabbits' pattern. There were many medieval versions of the bestiary and the BL MS Harley 4751 is very similar to this. However, Barber [p. 13] notes that the entry for the hare is not in earlier texts and rarely reappears in later texts. Thanks to Sue Andrew for this reference and a copy of the photo she had done from the original MS. Sue Andrew also showed me an illuminated initial Q, also with four rabbits, from a c1285 MS, a French copy of Peter Lombard's Gloss on the Psalter, Bodleian MS Auct.D.2.8. f. 115r, commentary on Psalm 51. A roof boss in the south choir aisle of Chichester Cathedral, dated to the first half of the 13C, shows six 'Green Men' sharing eyes. The Green Men have foliage coming out of their mouths. My thanks to Marianna Clark for noticing this and sending me an example of the colour postcard of it which is labelled: Six heads with six eyes between them. Colin Clark, the Chief Guide to the Cathedral, told me of the example in Boxgrove Priory. See Cave, 1930 & 1948. A roof boss in Boxgrove Priory is roughly contemporary with that in Chichester Cathedral, but shows eight faces sharing eyes. Photo 300 in Cave, who includes it on a page of Foliate Heads. On p. 184, he says alternate heads have a stem from the mouth, but this is very small, leading one to wonder if the foliage has been broken off. [Jenkins, pp. 686-687] says: "The second boss from the altar is so crafted that each of eight faces comes complete with two eyes, yet there are only eight eyes in all." See Cave, 1948. A roof boss in the Chapter House of a former Benedictine Abbey, now the sacristy of the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Wissembourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, is dated to c1300. Nearby bosses include a Green Man, one of the common figures in Devon bosses. [Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001).] On the right side of the southern west doorway of St. John's Cathedral (Primatiale St-Jean) in Lyon, there is a quatrefoil panel with four rabbits, from about 1315. The rabbits are going clockwise. Discussed and illustrated in Hamann-MacLean, below, and in Baltrušaitis (Fig. 96A), cf under China, above. I photographed this in Lyon and my picture is much better than that in Hamann-MacLean, possibly because his photograph was taken before the facade was cleaned in 1982. However, there is no postcard of the pattern and I could not find a picture in any of the material available -- but see the next item. John Winterbottom & Diana Hall have sent a photo of a similar four rabbits pattern, but going anti-clockwise, at Bord du Forêt, near Lyon. Here the rabbits are leaping upward, so the central square of ears is smaller and tilted by about 30o. N. Reveyron. Primatial Church of Saint-John-the-Baptist, Cathedral of Lyon. Translated by Valérie Thollon & Diana Sarran. Association Lyon Cathédrale, Lyon, nd [c2000]. Pp. 22-29 describe the western doorways, saying the sculptures were made during 1308 1332. The South doorway is described on pp. 28-29, and the third section, on p. 28, headed Bestiary, includes: "The four hares, arranged like a swastika." This is the only time I have seen the four rabbits pattern compared to a swastika and I don't think there is any similarity! In the Church of St. John the Baptist, North Bovey, Devon, there is a carved wood roof boss of the Tinners' Hares which possibly dates to the 13C. The leaflet guide to the Church says the pattern was an emblem of the tin-miners of the 14C and is thought by some to refer to the Trinity. The symbol is used by a number of local firms as a logo -- though I didn't see any on my visit in 1997. Thanks to Harry James, Churchwarden, for his letter of 25 Apr 1997, his drawing of the pattern and a copy of the guide. In the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, about halfway between Aylesbury and Oxford, is a mid-14C tile showing the Three Rabbits pattern. About a third of it is missing. It is just at the altar step, which has preserved it somewhat from wear. The church guide says the tile was made in nearby Penn and is unique. This is an encaustic tile with the rabbits in yellow on a pale orange background. (This church is generally locked; try telephoning the Vicar on 01844-208363 or the Churchwarden on 01844-208665 if you want to get in. My thanks to Avril Neal, the Churchwarden, for letting me in.) The pattern is reproduced in B&W in Carol Belanger Grafton; Old English Tile Designs; Dover, 1985 [selected from Haberly, cf below], p. 91, but there is no text or indication of the source of it. My thanks to Sue Andrew for finding the tile and the Grafton reproduction. She has persuaded a potter to make facsimiles of the tile. The potter is Diana Hall, Anne's Cottage, Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset, BH21 5NG; tel: 01725 517475. I have now purchased some of these and they are very fine. Loyd Haberly. Mediaeval English Pavingtiles. Blackwell for Shakespeare Head Press, Oxford, 1937. Shows the complete pattern in red and white on the TP. Shows it in B&W as fig. CXIII on p. 168, saying it occurs in Long Crendon Church and Notley. "The design is also found elsewhere in glass and carved on stone. Some say it symbolizes the Trinity, others the Trivium, or three Liberal Arts of Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic. The conies, these say, represent the scholars, a feeble folk, who have an ear for each of the three Arts. One writer thinks the donor of the this design was therefore a man of academic distinction." Thanks to John Winterbottom and Diana Hall for copies of this material. [Greeves (2000)] discusses this and says it is the earliest known British example, presumably because the North Bovey example is not precisely dated. [Greeves (2001)] thinks this is roughly contemporary with the Chester tile, see below, and another tile in Anglesey. In the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, is a floor tile from the Cathedral with an inlaid design of the Three Rabbits pattern. Sue Andrew has found that this is shown in Jane A. Wight; Mediaeval Floor Tiles; John Baker, London, 1975 and she has kindly sent a photocopy. On p. 48 is fig. 15: "Trinity Rabbits: Narrow inlaid design of linked rabbits, symbolising the Holy Trinity, in Chester Cathedral. (About 5⅜ inches square.)" These are just outline rabbits, looking much as though Matisse had drawn them. The outer edges of the ears are curved to produce a circle, so the usual delta shape is here very curved. On pp. 12 13, Wight discusses the pattern. Some signs are ambiguous, hovering between religion and magic, like the three rabbits or hares linked by their shared ears, that may act as a symbol of the Holy Trinity. In The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson (1972) it is pointed out that these are correctly hares, 'joined in a kind of animated Catherine-wheel' and 'another instance of a pre-Christian symbol being adopted by the church'. (On roof bosses in the Dartmoor churches, financed by money from the stanneries or mines, the creatures appear as the craft-badge of the tin-miners.) This 'Holy Trinity' is found on tiles in Chester Cathedral and in Buckinghamshire. It is clear that Wight and Evans & Thomson have no knowledge of the puzzle aspect of the pattern. The connection with the tin miners is now known to be a modern myth -- see Greeves, below. Hares certainly have pre-Christian associations, but I don't know of any pre-Christian example of the Three Rabbits pattern except at Dunhuang and possibly St. Petersburg, see above. [Greeves (2000)] mentions this example and gives more non-Christian examples. [Greeves (2001)] suggests this is early 14C, roughly contemporary with the Long Crendon example and gives a photo of the actual tile on p. 62 -- this is slightly damaged in the middle, but does not have the circularity I noted above which is thus an artist's liberty. Greeves, Andrew & Chapman recently visited Chester, but the only tiles shown to them were from excavations in the Cathedral nave in the 1990s, which makes us wonder if the tile described by Wight is still somewhere in the Cathedral?? Sue Andrew (Nov 2002) reports that Diana Hall has learned of a 14C tile from the Stadion's Prebendary Court in Constance, now in the Zurich Schweizerisches Landesmuseum. In St. Pancras Church, Widecombe, Devon, is a roof boss of the three rabbits pattern, probably from the late 14C. The guide book to the church says it is "a symbol of the Trinity connected with tin-mining." This is shown on a postcard by Judges of Hastings, card number c11933X, where it is called the Hunt of Venus. A separate guide to the roof bosses also calls it the Hunt of Venus and suggests the tinners took the imagery from either the mines being like rabbit burrows, or from Venus, the goddess of Cyprus, the island which produced the copper that the tin was combined with. Thanks to the Rector of the Church, Derek Newport, for the material. [Jenkins, 1999, p. 142] says: "This rare symbol of the Trinity is formed of three animal heads sharing just three ears." At The Great Church of the Holy Trinity, Long Melford, Suffolk, there is an example of the three rabbits pattern in the 15C(?) stained glass. Christopher Sansbury, the Rector, wrote on 3 Jun 1996 that the motif is common on the east side of Dartmoor and that it may have been brought to Suffolk by the Martyn family c1500. He says it is old glass, older than the church, which was built in 1484, but doesn't specify a date for it, nor does the commercial postcard (Jarrold & Sons, Norwich, no. CKLMC 6). The pattern is considered to be an emblem of the Trinity. In a later latter, he cited Chagford, North Bovey and Widecombe as churches with the pattern near Dartmoor and cites Greeves' article. Greeves, below, says the pattern seems to be about 5.5cm in diameter, but I wonder if he is measuring a picture as when I visited the Church, it seemed to be perhaps 5" or 6". Sansbury wrote that it was less than a foot across. Greeves also says that the Cornish merchant family of Martin came to Long Melford c1490, so the glass is more likely to be 16C. [Jenkins, 1999, pp. 658-659.] The Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Chagford, Devon, has a roof boss in the chancel depicting the Tinners' Rabbits, from the 15C. My photo is not very clear. The Rector, P. Louis Baycock, states that there are one or two other bosses in the wooden ceilings, but they are dark and were obscured by the lighting so I was unable to locate them. On a later visit, I managed to see one at the top of the aisle vault a bit to the left of the entrance door -- one needs to shield one's eyes from the light bulb near by. There is a kneeler in the church with the pattern and it figures at the lower right of a large modern embroidery 'Chagford through the ages' hanging at the back of the church (postcard and explanatory leaflet available). The leaflet says that a 'rabbit' was a tool used in tin-mining. On a later visit, I found also a pew seat cover with four examples of the pattern on it. James Dalgety tells me that there was a gift shop called Tinners' Rabbits in Chagford some years ago. [Mary Gray; Devon's Churches; James Pike Ltd, St. Ives, 1974, pp. 7 & 15] only mentions the pattern at Chagford, describing it as 'the old tinners' design'. The local wine shop, called Best Cellars, has the pattern on its window. On my 2001 visit, the owner said the shop had previously been the Tinners' Rabbits. The Newsagent's in the main square sells a Chagford plate featuring the Tinners Rabbits and with the usual mythology on the back. There is a new building, Stannary Place, with a modern crest of three rabbits over the doorway, on New Street going away from the Church. The 15C house of Cardinal Jouffroy at Luxeuil-les-Bains, Haute-Saône, Franche-Comté, about 40km NW of Belfort, has the pattern carved under a balcony. [Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001).] The church of St. Andrew, Sampford Courtenay, Devon, has two roof bosses in the Three Rabbits pattern. A letter from D. P. Miles says these date from c1450. Cf [Jenkins, 1999, pp. 137-138.] St. Michael's Church, Spreyton, Devon, has a roof boss of the Three Rabbits pattern. The sign at the entrance to the churchyard is a large and beautiful version of the pattern painted by Helen Powlesland, the nicest I have seen. Thanks to Rev. John Withers for information. Mrs. Powlesland informs me that the roof boss is 15C. [Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001)] says the roof is dated 1451. [Greeves (2001)] has a photo. Spreyton has produced a Millennium cup showing the school and an inscription surrounded by small squares containing the three rabbits pattern in white on blue and blue on white -- sent by Helen Powlesland. In 2003, they produced a cup for the Church with one side having the three rabbits pattern -- kindly sent by Helen Powlesland. Cave, p. 211, says there are two bosses, one in the chancel and one in the nave, and that there is an inscription on the roof of the chancel dated c1450. The Chapel of Saints Cyr and Julitta (now called St. Anne and St. Catherine), Cotehele House, Cornwall, was built in 1485-1489 and has an example of the pattern as a roof boss -- see [Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001)]. The boss is on the midline, one in from the E end of the Chapel. A chandelier hangs from it. It is unpainted and so dark that one really needs binoculars to make out the pattern. One can get a better view from a squint off the South Room on the first floor. In Scarborough, North Yorkshire, there is a c1350 building in Sandgate (or Sandside) on the seafront of South Bay called the King Richard III Inn because he is reputed to have stayed there. On the ceiling of one of the upper rooms is a 'Three Rabbits' pattern, but this is in the landlord and landlady's rooms and the landlady was unwilling to let me see it. Inquiry to the Scarborough Museums and Gallery Officer elicited a photo held by the Planning Department in which the pattern can just be discerned (though I can't see which way it is going) and the information that it is in 16C plasterwork apparently done by Italian workers. [Greeves (2000)] describes this and notes that Richard III's wife's family (the Nevills) owned the manor of North Bovey in the early 16C. Greeves, Andrew & Chapman have been to see and photograph it -- the pattern has been painted red. [Greeves (2000)] reports two occurrences of plaster ceilings with the pattern in Devon. A 16C example at Treasbeare Farm, near Clyst Honiton, and a mid-17C(?) example at Upcott Barton, Cheriton Fitzpaine. [Greeves (2001)] says the Clyst Honiton example is 17C and gives a fine photo of it. Baltrušaitis. Op. cit. below. Fig. 97 is a 1576 Dutch engraving of three rabbits. In Throwleigh, Devon, a few miles from Chagford, there is a roof boss of the Tinners' Rabbits in the 16C north aisle of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin. (Thanks to the Rector of Chagford and Throwleigh, P. Louis Baycock, for directing me to this site.) Photo in Sale, below, p. 63. [Greeves (2000)] has a picture of the example in the parish church, Tavistock, Devon, but only dated as medieval. [Greeves (2000)] reports there is a fine stone lintel from Charmois-L'Orgueilleux (I can't locate this) in the Musée d'Art Ancien et Contemporain in Epinal, Vosges, Lorraine, dated as 16C, but Greeves thinks the carving may be more primitive than 16C. He also reports two medieval stone roof bosses at Ingwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, about 35km NW of Strasbourg, and Xertigny, Vosges, Lorraine, about 15km S of Epinal. Greeves says there are other French examples: in the chapel of the Hotel de Cluny (= Cluny Museum), Paris ([Greeves (2001)] says this is 15C; I have a good photo); at Vienne, Isère, Rhône-Alpes; at St. Bonnet le Chateau. Loire, Rhône-Alpes; and that potters at Soufflenheim, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, use the pattern in current production. In 1997, an old trunk and crates in the Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery), Copenhagen were opened and found to contain over 20,000 prints which had been stored during re-organization in the 1830s. One of these is a three rabbits engraving, very similar to the 1576 Dutch engraving shown in Baltrušaitis, below. Here the rabbits are going clockwise. This material is the basis of an exhibition continuing until 16 Feb 2003. This picture is being used to advertise the exhibition and appears in Copenhagen This Week for Jan 2003 with a short English text, on www.ctw.dk/Sider/Articles.html . The museum's site is www.smk.dk , but I cannot see an English catalogue available. Information and photo from Diana Hall and John Winterbottom -- John's son saw it in Copenhagen on a stopover at the airport. The Church of St. John the Baptist, Broadclyst, Devon, has nine roof bosses of the Three Rabbits pattern. (Greeves (1991) erroneously has eight.) They were made in 1833 but are said to be careful plaster copies of the medieval examples, but my sources give no date for the originals. There is one three rabbits boss in the central aisle -- Chris Chapman thinks some of the bosses in the central aisle may be originals, but this one has been recently painted and doesn't look old to me. [Greeves (2000); Greeves (2001)] mentions two early 17C plaster ceilings with the pattern at Burg Breuberg in the Odenwald (I can't locate this on my maps, but the Odenwald is where Hessen, Baden-Württemberg and Bayern meet) and at Seligenstadt, Hessen, about 20km SE of Frankfurt. Basil Valentine. (He may be catalogued as Basilius Valentinus (or Valentis) and entered under B rather than V.) De Macrocosmo, oder von der grossen Heimlichkeit der Welt und ihrer Artzney, dem Menschen zugehorig. c1600. ??NYS -- reproduced and briefly discussed in Greeves. This shows the Hunt of Venus, with three hares going clockwise, but with each hare pursued by an unconnected dog and Greeves notes that the dogs are an essential part of a hunt symbol. Inside the triangle of ears is the astrological/alchemical symbol for Mercury, which is claimed to be similar to a symbol used for tin (or Jupiter) -- but I have now looked at a book on alchemy and there is no similarity; further both symbols are included in the surrounding text and they are clearly distinct. The pattern is drawn inside a circle of text which contains the astrological symbols of all seven planets and hence is rather cryptic -- see Roob, below, for the text. The top of the picture has a flaming heart pierced by an arrow and the legend VENUS. So there is no real connection with tin, though this is the source cited by the first book on Dartmoor to mention the symbol, in 1856. Greeves notes that the three ears produce a delta-shape and this has connotations of fertility, both as the Nile delta and as the female pubic triangle. Valentine is a (semi-?) mythical character. He was allegedly a Benedictine monk of the early 15C, but no trace of his writings occurs before the 17C. (However, de Rola (below) asserts that Antonius Guainerius (d. 1440) praised Valentine and that Valentine himself says he was a Benedictine monk at the monastery of St. Peter in Erfurt. But his real name is unknown and so he cannot be traced in the records of the monastery or at Erfurt. De Rola quotes a 1675 report that Valentine was at St. Peter's in 1413.) Legend says his works were discovered when a pillar in the Cathedral of Erfurt split open (a variant of a story often used to give works a spurious age) -- cf the next item. Despite their uncertain origin, the works were well received and remained popular for about 200 years, with the pictures of his 'Die zwölff Schlüssel' (The Twelve Keys) being used to the present day. He was probably an alias of Johann Thölde (fl. 1595-1625). The work cited may occur in his Last Will and Testament (1st English ed of 1657) or in his Chymische Schriften (Gottfried Liebezeite, Hamburg, 1700). Basilius Valentinus. The Last Will and Testament of Basil Valentine, Monke of the Order of St. Bennet ... To which is added Two Treatises: .... Never before Published in English. Edward Brewster, London, 1671. ??NYS -- seen in a bookdealer's catalogue, 2003. Basilius Valentinus. Letztes Testament / Darinnen die Geheime Bücher vom groffen Stein der uralten Weifen / und anderen verborgenen Geheimnüssen der Natur Auss dem Original, so zu Erfurt in hohen Altar / unter einem Marmorsteineren Täflein gefunden worden / nachgeschrieben: Und nunmehr auf vielfältiges Begehren / denen Filiis Doctrinæ zu gutem / neben angehengten XII. Schlüsseln / und in Kupffer gebrachten Figuren ie. deffen Innhalt nach der Vorrede zu sehen / zum vierdtenmahl ans Liecht gegehen / deme angehänget ein Tractätlein von der ALCHIMIE, Worinnen von derselben Usprung / Fortgang und besten Scriptoribus gehandelt / auff alle Einwürffe der Adversariorum geantwortet / und klar bewiesen wird / dass warhafftig durch die Alchimie der rechte Lapis Philosophorum als eine Universal Medicin Könne bereitet werden / von Georg Philips Nenter. Johann Reinhold Dulssecker, Strasburg, 1712. This has several parts with separate pagination. About halfway through is a new book with TP starting: Von dem Grossen Stein der Uhralten / Daran so viel tausend Meister anfangs der Welt hero gemacht haben. Neben angehängten Tractätlein / derer Inhalt nach der Vorrede zu finden. Den Filis doctrinæ zu gutem publicirt / und jetzo von neuen mit seinen zugehörigen Figuren in Kupffer and Leight gebracht. Strassburg / Im Jahr M. DCC. XI. Part V. of this is: Von der grossen Heimligkeit der Welt / und ihrer Artzney / dem Mensche zugehörig -- from Greeves, it appears this is also called Macrocosmo. On p. 140 is a smaller and simpler version of the three hares picture, with 'folio 222' on it. This has the hares going anticlockwise, the only example of Basilius' picture with this feature that I have seen. Further, the word 'recht' is missing from the text around the picture and has been written in. Below the picture is a lengthy poem, starting "Ein Venus-Jagt ist angestallt". I translate the first part as: "A Hunt of Venus is prepared. The hound catches, so the hare will not now grow old. I say this truly that Mercury will protect well when Venus begins to rage, so there occur fearfully many hares. Then Mars guards with your [sic, but must be his] sword, so that Venus does not become a whore." Yüklə 2,59 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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