ANCIENT FURNITURE—PRIE-DIEU.
Perhaps some of the readers of "N. & Q." will be able to give me some information as to the use of an ancient piece of furniture which I have met with. At Codrington, a small village in Gloucestershire, in the old house once the residence of the family of that name, now a farm-house, they show you in the hall a piece of furniture which was brought there from the chapel when that part of the building was turned into a dairy. It is a cupboard, forming the upper part of a five-sided structure, which has a base projecting equally with the top, which itself hangs over a hollow between the cupboard and the base, and is finished off with pendants below the cupboard. The panel which forms the door of the cupboard is wider than the sides. All the panels are carved with sacred emblems; the vine, the instruments of the Passion, the five wounds, the crucifix, the Virgin and child, and a shield, with an oak tree with acorns, surmounted by the papal tiara and the keys. The dimensions are as follows:
Depth from front to back, 2 feet 4½ inches.
Height, 4 feet 8 inches.
Height of cupboard from slab to pendants, 2 feet 6 inches.
Height of base, 9½ inches.
Width of side panels, 1 foot 8 inches; of centre panel, 1 foot 10½ inches.
Width of the door of the cupboard, 1 foot 5 inches.
The door has carved upon it a scene representing two men, one an old man sitting upon a chair, the other a young one falling back from a stool; a table separates them and in the next compartment (for an arcade runs through the group) a female figure clasps her hands, as if in astonishment. This I can hardly understand. But the panel with the papal ensigns I think may throw some light on the use of the whole. In the year 1429, John Codrington of Codrington obtained a bull from Pope Martin V. to have a portable altar in his house, to have mass celebrated when and where he pleased. I find that such a portable altar ought to have "a suitable frame of wood whereon to set it." Such altars are frequently mentioned, though I believe very few remain; but I never could hear of the existence of anything to show what the frame would be. It occurs to me as possible that this piece of furniture may have been used for the purpose. The whole question of portable altars is an interesting one, and if this account should by the means of "N. & Q." fall into the hands of any one who is acquainted with the subject, I hope he would consider it worth a communication.
For some time I was at a loss for another instance; however, I have just received from a friend, who took interest in the subject, a sketch of something almost identical from the disused chapel at Chillon in the Canton Vaud. Of this I have not the measurements, but it stands about breast-high. It is there called a "prie-dieu," and is said to have belonged to the Dukes of Savoy, but the size is very unusual for such a use. I send sketches of each of the subjects of my Query,
and hope that, if this should be thought worthy of a place in "N. & Q.," some one will be able and willing to afford some information about them. I would add as a farther Query, the question of the meaning of the battle-axe and pansy, which appear on the "prie-dieu" at Chillon. Is it a known badge of the Savoy family?
R. H. C.