posted 04-24-2006 07:29 PM            

I'm trying again to post photos, but I decided to try with the communion set I made for my church a few years ago. I apologize for the glare from the chalice, but under that glare is a United Methodist emblem as on the bowl.

Geoff

posted 04-24-2006 08:54 PM            

Very nice work indeed.

posted 04-25-2006 10:25 PM            

I love the simplicity of the forms and the wood is a nice contrast. I suspect the parts are screwed together?

posted 04-26-2006 04:08 PM            

The design is plain for the reason that I like that look. And Methodists tend to be plain people. I raised the pieces(there is another bowl, but couldn't fit it into the picture size), the base of the chalice being the most challenging. As I narrowed down the neck of the base, I had to make a stake to fit into it as I hammered; the stake was made from a large nail. Once I came to plannishing, I had nothing to properly back the silver(the nail only worked with the rough raising), so the upper third of the base was burnished. Many a lunch hour I spent with the base against my chest as I burnished away the heavy hammer marks.

This was the first raising of any complexity that I had done, it was an adventure, and it came just as I had drawn it on paper.

Fred, the chalace is screwed and epoxied together, so I'll never be able to take it apart. I wanted it strong because I would not be able control how it was handled once the church had it. Actually, the ladies at church have been very careful. The piece of blood wood that I acquired for making the node and the bases was only an inch thick, and as that was the height I wanted for the node itself, I glued two other pieces of the wood to the node piece, top and bottom, then drilled down through either side of the center and glued two pieces of music wire in the holes to hold the whole wooden piece together.

The bases of the bowls I had turned by an instructor in the fine furniture department at the North Bennet Street School in Boston.

Swarter, I've seen communion sets plain and fancy so I don't know if there are guidelines for how they should look, except that, probably, Protestant ones tend to be simplest.

posted 04-27-2006 02:24 AM            

Why do you call this a bowl rather than a patten? Just wondering.

posted 04-27-2006 02:11 PM            

Communion cups (as opposed to Chalices) from the Reformed tradition (Calvanist = Presbyterian, UCC, etc.)would tend to be plain and might not even be metal. Calvin rejected the onrnamentation of the Catholic Church, which inclued statues, altar rails and other decoration. Catholic and Epsicopal Chalices would usuall be more ornate. There may even have been a requirement at one time that they be made of precious metal, but I would not swear by this (no pun intended). Chalices also varied over time with, for example, Barqoue ones being quite ornate, and contemporary ones far less so.

posted 04-27-2006 05:02 PM            

Patens (one t) are flatter, either flat plates or nearly so; some are even footed. Bowls can be either deep or shallow, but are capable of holding liquid (whether or not they are used for that purpose); patens are intended for bread or wafers, and cannot hold liquid.

posted 04-27-2006 11:04 PM            

I suspect the term needed here is 'high church'. High churches, with liturgy and 'smells and bells' do seem to require somewhat more in the way of objects than 'low churches'. The paten (why is there only one 't', it is not pronounced that way?) is used to hold the eucharistic wafer during distribution to the communicants. There are patens raised up like the one Geoff has made. The idea is to hold the paten under the chin of the recipient to prevent the wafer from falling to the ground. The kind shown here is much more easily grasped than flat ones.

Most chalices that I have personally handled have been gold plated on the inside with the gold extending from the rim for about 1/2" on the outside.

It is sometimes the custom to mount opals and agates on the chalice. They will be replaced with amathysts when the person becomes a bishop.

posted 04-28-2006 01:21 AM            

As to why "paten" is pronounces "patten," the pat answer would be "because Webster says it is." Consider that, while a registered design is a patent (like a pat on the head), something open and obvious is patent (pronounced paytent). After all, this is English, and not Latin - English may be the only language in which a garage fire results in the car burning up and the house burning down (while it goes up in smoke)! In other words it is because it is. Go figure.

N.B. Speaking of Webster, "he" says a paten is a plate.

posted 04-28-2006 03:39 PM            

"The cup used at Mass to contain the Precious Blood of Christ, to commemorate that used by Our Lord at the Last Supper. A chalice is usually from 8 to 11 inches in height, with a wide base, a stem with a knob midway, and a cup. The whole may be of gold or silver, or the cup only. In case of poverty it is permitted to make the cup of inferior metal, but this must be gold-plated within. Chalices are blessed by a bishop, who anoints them with holy chrism, a ceremony which goes back to the time of Saint Gregory the Great (590-604). Formerly, if a plated chalice needed re-gilding it had to be reconsecrated, but under the present law this is not necessary. In art the chalice is a symbol of the Holy Eucharist, and is often depicted with a Host above it. It is also an emblem associated with Saints Bruno, Barbara, John the Evangelist, and Thomas Aquinas. As the Sacramental Cup, it signifies faith. Saint John is represented with a chalice and a serpent issuing therefrom, referring to an unsuccessful attempt to poison the Host, the serpent symbolizing the poison."

Protestant clergy also receive communion cups as ordination and other gifts. In the Presbyterian Church these are of various materials and may be called chalices or communion cups. My wife, an ordained Presbyterian Minister, has several of potter and one of pewtery.

In his aptly named book, "Can you drink this cup?," the late Priest and writer Henry Nouwen talks about a beloved Chalice that was in his family for generations and given to him upon his ordination by an uncle.

Regards,
Tom

posted 04-28-2006 03:47 PM            

I wish to add at this point that the digital camera I used for these pictures shows the blood wood lighter and somewhat orange in tone compared to the way it appears in person. I also, formerly, took pictures of the set with film and the wood came out the proper color in those prints. I don't know if the digital sees things a bit different or if it was just a matter of lighting differences.

posted 04-29-2006 01:26 AM            

These bejewelled and decorated chalices were used. They frequently appeared in Eucharistic processions and liturgies, as well as in daily masses. Which may be a Chicago practice. Polish parishes in particular had spectacular chalices.

The pieces that really fascinated me were the monstrances. One shop that, searching for the politically correct term, was an Appalachian white used furniture store had several dozen monstrances as well as chalices, thuribles, aspersoriums etc. for sale. Very strange place to find these.

Prices were very high for the times. And the buyers were outraged parishoners who were grabbing them up. With the intention of re-giving them to their parish when the simplicity fad died down.

To make a boring story short, ecclesiastical silver is something that seems not much researched. At least in the post 1837 era. Repeatedly, I have seen pyxes sold as spice boxes. And extreme unction kits as dresser items. There is a great deal of factory produced ecclesiastical ware, most very well made and nicely designed about which we know almost nothing.

On a personal note, I find monstrances fascinating. The form lends itself to fabulous baroque extravagances. Totally awe inspiring design.

posted 04-29-2006 04:38 PM            

I have surfed around and found some church supply places that do offer silver items. As they are commercial sites, I feel I should not link to them. But there is some interesting silver out there. It appears that all sorts of church services require silver. And makers are creating some great items to fill that need.

Thanks for the update Tom. Imagine, there are sins that don't involve sex. Who knew?