Small Pipe-Clay Devotional Figures: Touch, Play and Animation

Das Mittelalter, vol. 25, pp. 397–423

Abstract

Abstract Small, mass-produced pipe-clay figurines were popular devotionalia in the late medieval Low Countries. In this paper, focusing on representations of the Christ Child, I study the sensory and playful ways in which such objects were used as ‘props of perception’ in spiritual games of make-believe or role-play. Not only does this particular iconography invite tactile and playful behaviour, the figurines fit within a larger context of image practices involving visions and make-believe. Through such practices images were animated and imbued with a divine power. Contemporary written sources suggest that, especially for women, ownership of and sensory engagement with small-scale figures provided them with agency.

Authors 1

1. L.A. Smits corresponding Aachen Centre for the Arts in Society

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University , Centre for the Arts in Society , P. O. Box 9515 , Leiden , The Netherlands

   Leiden University, Centre for the Arts in Society, P. O. Box 9515, 2300 RALeiden, The Netherlands