The Macclesfield Psalter scrolls

 Another facsimile which Mary had given me is of the Macclesfield Psalter, a wonderful example of early 14th century English illumination in the "bar-and-ivy" style.  I took a long time to get round to using it as an exemplar, but once I did so, I couldn't stop!

It illustrates a common issue with SCA scrolls.  There is a strong tradition (which I have no desire to break as it suits me well) that they are based on illuminated manuscripts.  Unless these are Grants of Arms (and in practice, few are), they are intended for very different uses to award scrolls.  The Macclesfield Psalter and similar (eg, Luttrell Psalter) evolved a style very specific to Psalters.  Since the psalms are all written in verses which fall into two halves, the "bar" extends into a decorated initial for the opening half of each verse, whilst a gap is left between each extension into which the the second half of each verse is written.  It doesn't really lend itself for use with the sort of texts used in award scrolls... but since my Macclesfield-inspired scrolls are always popular, I find ways to make them work!








Most of my Macclesfield scrolls are closely based on an original page, or combine elements from various pages.  This last one is a completely fresh creation of my own, inspired by the Macclesfield Psalter but not copied from it.  It was my response to the instruction that I should do a scroll to reward the recipient for their work in IT support for Insulae Draconis, without mentioning any computer language.  I included a number of visual puns, including "Web Master", "Home Page", "Mouse" and "Sir Kit Bawd" (= circuit board).



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A long-awaited Laurel Scroll

Image
 This scroll was commissioned at the beginning of 2020.  You can guess the rest.  By the time I had completed it, it was apparent it wasn't going to be presented any time soon, so I finished it without adding the date, which I was finally able to add a month ago, and the scroll was presented yesterday.  So far my record for the longest delay between my doing a scroll and it being presented, but I have another one still awaiting presentation which will beat that record!
Read more

Winter Poem for Yule Ball

 The Bardic Challenge for Yule Ball 2021 was to produce a piece of work on the theme of "Winter".  I looked for inspiration to the traditional symbols for each month, as used in calendars from Books of Hours and some wall paintings, and used those for the three winter months, namely: December: Killing the Pig January: Feasting indoors February: Sitting by the fire. When I came to perform my poem, the sheets of paper on which it was written had disappeared!  I was invited instead to record a performance of it, which is this:
Read more

Scrolls in 2023

Image
Laurel for Marlein Eberlein.  This was a scroll I had promised to do for the recipient as and when she became a Laurel (recognised master in the field of Arts and Sciences in the SCA). That finally happened this year. It was inspired by 16th century "Citizen Portraits"... that is, portraits commissioned by well-to-do bourgeois, something that really only began to happen in this period.  Previously portraiture had mostly been the monopoly of royalty or nobility.  Such portraits often (though far from universally) feature the sitter's accomplishments or source of their wealth, and because the sitter will not be armigerous, any heraldry will be typically that of their trade guild.  In this case I featured the clothes Marlein has made (being worn by her), a sprang hairnet and some pottery, three arts in which she has distinguished herself.  As she often sells her produce, I have put her at a trade counter, implying a successful merchant. I used the symbol of the Lau...
Read more