28.09.21
Since I don't wanna focus on just one project at a time I've been researching the ampulla to begin the ceramic branch of my work. I want to begin with using the pipe motif I explored in second year to bring together the ideas of spirituality with industrialisation and explore the material of clay as a vessel using influence from a variety of sources such as antique European vessels, ancient artefacts and contemporary ceramic design as well as more direct studies like the Ampulla from the coronation of Charles I and Roman pilgrimage ampullae.
I have also begun to think about the anointing oil used in the ampullae and how i'd create my own. The recipe from the bible consists of Myrrh, Cinnamon, Kaneh Bosem (an unknown and highly debated ingredient), cassia and olive oil. Using this recipe I want to somehow incorporate the oil in my work as I feel it'll add a sensory element to the work by creating an aroma. The debated ingredient Kanah Bosem is something I can play with when it comes to my making of the oil as its said to be Calamus, Cannabis or Cymbopogon and this ambiguity will allow me to modernise and play with the mixture.
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| Gold Ampulla from the Coronation of Charles I 1633 |
An ampulla was a small, mostly round vessel made from glass, metal or ceramic with two handles with origins in Ancient Rome and used for sacred purposes. Early Medieval pilgrimage ampullae were designed to hold holy oil from pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land related to the life of Jesus. There are a number of ampullae which have significant historical value such as the Ampulla in the British regalia from which the anointing oil is poured by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the anointing of a new British sovereign at their coronation, the Danish ampulla used during the king's anointing in the period of absolutism and the Holy Ampulla from its first recorded use by Pope Innocent II for the anointing of Louis VII in 1131 to the coronation of Louis XVI in 1774, held the anointing oil for the coronation of the kings of France.
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| Early Byzantine Ampulla 480-650 |