Lux perpetua – zu den Pseudo-Laufgewichten der »Gruppe Kassel« und ihrer wirklichen Zweckbestimmung

Abstract

This contribution picks up upon the question of the function of a group of supposedly late antique sliding weights, a question already dealt within the dissertation of the author. At present, the so-called Kassel group consists of at least nine, partially unpublished pieces. Their actual use and time of production are clarified here through the comparison with entirely preserved so-called sanctuary lamps, which always display three such attachments serving to hang them up on chains. Often dated precisely to the year thanks to manufacturer’s stamps, these hanging lamps were used commonly in Catholic, more seldomly in Protestant (and Orthodox?) churches and were produced in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Nurnberg was one of several production centres of these lamps made of red brass.