The next Regional Furniture Society meeting in the series of Research in Progress meetings will take place on 13 March 2021 as a Zoom meeting. As with the previous two themed meetings, (Sixteenth-century Furniture and The Regional Chair), speakers will present current research from a variety of perspectives.
Programme
10.00 Introduction (Liz Hancock, RFS Newsletter Editor)
Morning session (Chair: Chris Pickvance)
10.15am – Agnès Bos (University of St Andrews) ‘A Reappraisal of the ‘Medieval’ Arconati-Visconti Dressoir at the Louvre’) Agnès Bos is a Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews. She was a curator at the Louvre from 2006 to 2016 specialising in decorative arts from the late middle ages to the 17th century, with a focus on furniture, tapestries and textiles. In 2019 she published the catalogue raisonné of the Medieval and Renaissance furniture of the Louvre. For her articles see Agnès Bos | University of St Andrews – Academia.edu
11.00am – Cécile Lagane (Centre Michel de Boüard /CRAHAM, Caen), ‘Evolution and Transformation of Furniture in its Architectural Environment: the Armoires of Bayeux (Normandy) and Aubazine (Limousin)’. Cécile’s doctoral thesis on Medieval furniture and furnishings from 500-1300 will be published shortly.
11.45am – Discussion
12.00 pm – Nick Humphrey (Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Dept., Victoria and Albert Museum, London), ‘A Fifteenth-century Desk-cupboard at the Victoria and Albert Museum’. Nick is the curator responsible for pre-1700 furniture, woodwork and leatherwork and was involved in creating the British Galleries (2001), the Medieval and Renaissance galleries (2009), the Dr Susan Weber (Furniture) Gallery (2012), and the Europe galleries 1600-1815 (2015). His most recent publication revisits the museum’s most famous piece of furniture, the Great Bed of Ware; current research includes cypress wood chests and Latin-American lacquer.
12.45 pm – Jens Kremb (Independent scholar, Bonn), ‘The Chest of Drawers: a Late Medieval Piece of Furniture?’ His doctoral thesis about painted tabletops in the late Middle Ages, was published as Bemalte Tischplatten des Spätmittelalters (Böhlau Verlag, 2015). He has created a research initiative on medieval furniture (www.inimm.de) and his articles are on www.jkremb.academia.edu
1.30 pm – Discussion
1.45 pm – Break
Afternoon session (Chair: Nick Humphrey)
2.15pm – Chris Pickvance (Chairman, RFS), ‘A Closer Look at a Group of English Clamped Chests from 1250-1350: Timber, Construction and Decoration’. Chris has been researching medieval chests for over ten years using dendrochronology. His articles have appeared in Regional Furniture, The Antiquaries Journal and archaeological journals; see www.researchgate.net
3.00pm – Noah Smith (Scouloudi Fellow, Institute for Historical Research), ‘The ‘Courtrai chest’ at New College, Oxford: Iconography and Materiality’. This controversial chest, a focus of Noah’s research on Flemish medieval art, has been viewed both as a fake and a Belgian national treasure. This paper will explore the material and art historical aspects of the chest, addressing its potential provenance and suggesting a new iconographic reading of its frontispiece. Noah is in the final year of his PhD at the University of Kent, and has work forthcoming in several publications.
3.45pm – Rachel Sycamore (MRes student in Medieval Archaeology, Worcester University), ‘Dug-out Church Chests in Herefordshire and Worcestershire’. Rachel is in the third and final year of her Master’s degree. Her research focuses on dug-out church chests and has used dendrochronology to date four in the two counties so far. Her paper will discuss the construction methods, ironwork and physical characteristics of examples, comparing and contrasting those which have been dated.
4.30pm – Discussion
4.45pm – Close
The event is free and open to non-members, but registration is necessary. Please email Jeremy Bate, RFS Events Organizer events.rfs@gmail.com. The last date for registration is Thursday 11 March. Zoom Meeting Invitations will be sent on 12 March. The waiting room will be open from 9.30 on 13 March. The day will be recorded.
Medieval Art Research 