Misericord thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Misericord

ca.1441-1445 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Misericords were set on the underside of the hinged seats in the choirs of churches. They had no religious function but gave some support to the monks and clergy in the long parts of the services when standing was required. This explains the term 'misericord', which comes from the Latin for mercy. The decoration was often amusing, sometimes moral, and included grotesque figures and observations of the natural world in depictions of animals, birds and foliage.

This misericord is decorated with a carving of a barn owl, a nocturnal and often solitary bird of prey. It is known by many other names in folkloric tradition, including Ghost Owl and Screech Owl.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved oak
Brief description
English/Dutch, 1400-1499
Physical description
Rectangular oak board with a narrow, rounded bracket in the centre, that serves as the seat. Beneath the bracket is a carving of an owl, with wings outstretched. It is perhaps meant to be a barn owl, as it is shown with the wide flat face and smooth head common to this type of bird. The wooden furniture and fittings of medieval English churches were frequently decorated with carvings of sacred and secular subjects taken from religious and folkloric traditions.

There are two iron hinges on either side of the bottom of the board.
Dimensions
  • Height: 29.2cm
  • Width: 69.9cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Mr J H Fitzhenry
Object history
This misericord is one of a set of eighteen which were given to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1910 by a Mr. J.H. Fitzhenry Esq. of London. He had purchased them from Sir Edward Barry (who had himself offered them to the V&A for sale at an earlier date but the offer was not accepted) of Ockwells Manor, Berkshire. Sir Barry had acquired them in 1903 from Fenton & Sons of 11 New Oxford Street. The misericords had previously been sold at a sale in 1902 at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire, prior to which they had been in the possession of a Mr. Naylor.

It was originally assumed that Mr Naylor had obtained the misericords from a church in Northampton. However, the lack of ‘supporters’ (the name for carved extensions on either side of the misericord), a distinctive feature of almost all choir stalls in England but rarely found in examples from Continental Europe, immediately suggests Continental origins.

The likelihood that the misericords originate from the Southern Netherlands has been investigated at length by the Dutch misericord specialist J.A.J.M. Verspaandonk. He draws some very convincing parallels with these misericords and the remainder of the set found in the church of St Peter in Leuven, Belgium (see J.A.J.M. Verspaandonk, ‘Laatgotische Zuidnederlandse misericorden in het Victoria & Albert Museum to London’, Antiek, June/July, 1986, pp.12-21). He even goes so far as to suggest they were carved by the same hand – that of Claes de Bruyn, a craftsman from Brussels who worked at St Peter’s between 1438 and 1441. Verspaadonk also draws less emphatic parallels between the V&A misericords and a set dating to 1440 found at the Gote Kerk, Breda.
Historical context
Misericord is the name given to the ledge supported by a corbel which is revealed when the hinged seats in medieval choir stalls are tipped up. The word comes from the Latin misericordia which means pity and alludes to the original function of the ledge.

The rule of St Benedict, introduced in the sixth century AD, required the monks to sing the eight daily offices of the Church (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline) standing up. They were only permitted to sit during the Epistle and Gradual at Mass and the Response at Vespers. Such long hours spent standing was particularly arduous for the older and weaker monks and they soon adopted a leaning staff or crutch to help take the weight off their feet.

By the eleventh century the rules were slightly relaxed and misericords were introduced – the monks were able to perch on the ledge and lean back slightly, taking much of the weight off their feet whilst still giving the appearance of standing up straight. They were in use wherever the monks were required to sing the daily offices, including cathedrals, abbeys and collegiate churches. They sometimes even appeared in Parish churches.

The earliest mention of misericords appears in the eleventh century in the rules of the monastery of Hirsau in Germany. It is not known when they were introduced in Britain but the earliest surviving examples are found at Hemingbrough in North Yorkshire and Christchurch in Dorset. Both date from the early thirteenth century. The earliest complete set of misericords is in Exeter Cathedral and dates from 1240 to 1270.

The choir seat, the ledge and the corbel supporting it were made of a single piece of wood, usually oak. The corbel provided an ideal platform for medieval craftsmen to carve all manner of narrative scenes and decoration. British misericords differ from those elsewhere in Europe by having subsidiary carvings on either side of the central corbel. These are known as supporters and are often used to develop the theme introduced in the carving of the corbel.

Over half of the misericords in Britain are decorated with foliage but of those which do have narrative decoration, both in Britain and on the Continent, very few depict religious subjects. More common themes included scenes of everyday life and moral tales, often being depicted in a humerous way.

Whether, as has been suggested, the lack of religious scenes was because the hidden location of the misericords meant craftsmen were more free to be creative with their carving, or whether the monks would have thought it inappropriate to sit on images of Christ, Saints or biblical scenes is not known. However, their lack of overt religious content together with their concealed physical position probably contributed to a large number of them surviving the Reformation and still existing today.

Information taken mainly from:
Church Misericords and Bench Ends, Richard Hayman, Shire Publications, Buckinghamshire, 1989 (no copy in the NAL)
The World Upside-Down – English Misericords, Christa Grössinger, London, 1997
(NAL = 273.H.95)
Production
The possible name of the carver, date of manufacture and place of manufacture are all taken from Charles Tracy's catalogue entry (for the collection of eighteen misericords that W.27-1910 is a part of) in Continental Church Furniture in England - A Traffic in Piety, Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk, 2001, p.253.
Subject depicted
Summary
Misericords were set on the underside of the hinged seats in the choirs of churches. They had no religious function but gave some support to the monks and clergy in the long parts of the services when standing was required. This explains the term 'misericord', which comes from the Latin for mercy. The decoration was often amusing, sometimes moral, and included grotesque figures and observations of the natural world in depictions of animals, birds and foliage.

This misericord is decorated with a carving of a barn owl, a nocturnal and often solitary bird of prey. It is known by many other names in folkloric tradition, including Ghost Owl and Screech Owl.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Continental Church Furniture in England - A Traffic in Piety, Charles Tracy, Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk, 2001, pp.253-255, pl.315
  • 'Laatgotische Zuidnederlandse misericorden in het Victoria & Albert Museum te London', Antiek, J.A.J.M. Verspaandonk, June/July, 1986, pp.12-21
Collection
Accession number
W.27-1910

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest