The Matronae and the Cauldron of Plenty will be in residence in an apple tree at Bayfield Hall near Holt, North Norfolk for a month this autumn.
Bayfield Sculpture Trail 24 opens on Weds 18th September 10 – 5 every Wednesday to Sunday till 20th October. https://bayfieldhallsculpture.com Natural Soundings Cafe and nursery will also be open at the Hall.
My installation follows a circular train of thought. The Cauldron of Plenty was a sacred object found in temples as early as the Bronze Age in northern Europe and features in Irish and Welsh mythology as a never-ending source of nourishment. It isn’t known what if anything was placed inside the Cauldron but I have filled mine with apples – also sacred and magical fruit – which were believed to confer immortality.
Maidens
Mothers
Crones
Images of the Matronae, a triple form of the fertility goddess, have been found carved onto small stone tablets in Gaul (France), the Rhineland and Britain. Dating from the 1st to 4th Century AD they have been found in Roman garrison towns, such as Lincoln, and on Hadrian’s Wall. They were probably made by and for local people. The irony of images of generous and fertile women being placed in military sites is fascinating. Were they part of a magical act to avert or balance the horrors of war? Very little is known about them, apart from the fact that the triple goddess was significant in northern European culture before the era of the Roman Empire, representing the Crone, the Mother and the Maiden. The German, Gaulish and British versions of the Matronae wear markedly different contemporary clothing, the Germans wearing big circular hats, the Gaulish, long classical robes, and on one British version they wear short skirts over trousers and little hats or different hairstyles, which is why I decided to dress my Matronae as 21st century women.
All pieces are for sale. The tiles are in editions of 10 and made of Jesmonite; the Cauldron is an unique piece made of an iron cooking pot and Jesmonite.