ArtHow did 1600s Dutch households keep their fire embers from going out at night? With a curfew.
Yes, it's a pun. Curfews were metal covers that kept fire embers smouldering overnight, to be revived for the next day's cooking and heating. The word curfew comes from the French for fire cover (couvre feu).
The brass one pictured here is among the earliest to survive, made in Holland but now in London's V&A. It's embossed with an image of Saint Lawrence.
This is dark humour, since Lawrence was roasted alive in the third century—punishment for perhaps the first Christian protest. The early church's refusal to worship Roman gods led to persecution. Lawrence was ordered to surrender the church's treasures to authorities. He turned up with the sick, marginalized, poor, elderly, and widows, boldly proclaiming: “These are the true treasures of the church.” For this insolence, he was martyred (killed).
#art #design #brass #heating #fire #religion #saint #martyr #VictoriaAndAlbert #museum #UK
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