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Pigeonnier à boules
tutelle administrative

Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

puits à coquille

English translation:

partially enclosed well [or fountain] crowned by a shell motif

Added to glossary by Angie Taylor
Feb 26, 2014 13:24
10 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

puits à coquille

French to English Social Sciences Architecture architecture
There is a photo of one of these here - first photo:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q="puits à coquille" shell&s...

but I can't find an English equivalent. All my "shell" and related searches have not turned anything up.

No context, just a list of different types of well.

Thanks
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 partially enclosed well [or fountain] crowned by a shell motif
3 well with shell motif
References
Puits à coquille
Une voûte en coquille ici

Discussion

Christopher Crockett Feb 26, 2014:
Yes, Petit, and you've found a transitional portal which is half medieval, half renaissance in its form and iconography.
Jocelyne Cuenin Feb 26, 2014:
But surely a scallop (or clam ?) shell ? like here as a canopy
http://www.catedralcalahorra.org/e_sanJeronimo.html
philgoddard Feb 26, 2014:
That's a good idea, Didier. Shell-vaulted fountain would be a more concise alternative to Christopher's suggestion, which I still agree with.
Didier Fourcot Feb 26, 2014:
shell vault? Une "coquille" dans le sens de voûte semi-sphérique formant le plafond d'une niche, c'est une "shell vault", qu'on retrouve aussi sous les escaliers, et c'est ce que je vois sur la première photo?
http://www.janeybennett.com/taliesin.html
philgoddard Feb 26, 2014:
Oh, sorry, I didn't look at the picture closely enough. Why not just say "fountain with a shell carving"?
Angie Taylor (asker) Feb 26, 2014:
Yes, Phil it is indeed a fountain. Some of the other references were wells. Wall fountain doesn't seem to convey the idea that there is a shell carved above it.
philgoddard Feb 26, 2014:
Would I be right in saying it's a fountain rather than a well? If so, it's a wall fountain.

Proposed translations

+1
1 hr
Selected

partially enclosed well [or fountain] crowned by a shell motif

From the numerous examples on the page of google hits you gave, it is clear that Renaissance wells/fountains were frequently partially enclosed in stonework which could be rather elaborate --after all, a source of fresh water was of great value en ces temps la.

The use of a shell motif at the top of some of these partial enclosures seems appropriate, perhaps dating back to Roman times (and revived in the "Renaissance")

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NA3sUI-KKY/UAlsSQDZ3YI/AAAAAAAACV...

http://www.avocatsbonfilsdijon.com/IMG/jpg/puits.jpg

I know of no medieval examples of this shell motif being used to "crown" a well.

Nor can I think of any other way to describe it save in the way I am suggesting.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-02-26 15:14:04 GMT)
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Renaissance representations of the Madonna within a niche crowned by a shell are not at all uncommon

http://art4aware.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/piero-della-fra...

http://www.nationalgallery.ie/~/media/Images/Large Image/Col...

http://www.kunstpedia.com/images/gallery/41/727_album.jpg

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/c9/ea/29/c9ea29274829...

http://media.vam.ac.uk/media/thira/collection_images/2006AY/...

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/0d/c8/61/0dc861d5a434...

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/images2/shell.jpg

see this perhaps overly-academic analysis:

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq2/yq273.html

What's the relationship between a well/fountain and the Madonna?

Biblical references aside, I would say that both are a "source" (Fr.), from which a life-sustaining substance flows.

Given the common association of the Madonna with the sea (Lat. mare~~Maria), the cockle shell as one of the "attributes" of the Virgin seems reasonable.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/d6/dc/dd/d6dcdd96ff3f...

http://heatherbond.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/DSCF0034...

I know of no medieval examples (and I'm definitely not an iconographer), though there does seem to be a "drift" in that direction somewhat visible in some late medieval works:

http://www.klassiskgitar.net/Master of the St. Bartholomew A...
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
12 mins
Thanks, Phil.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for all the suggestions. And thank you, Chirstopher, for all the references."
1 hr

well with shell motif

search.rubylane.com/search/,id=4.5.50,page=3‎
Traduire cette page
Items 61 - 90 of 612 - Shop for Antiques Renaissance on Ruby Lane, a marketplace to buy and ... Wonderful Italian Renaissance Marble Fountain with Shell Motif.

SEE PICTURE HERE :
http://nomad4now.com/cairo-family-guide/sakakini-palace-19th...
....... Each turret bottom has an arched niche with shell motif.

www.kcfountains.com/fountains/details.php?photo=79‎
Named after Mexican President Miguel Aleman who dedicated this fountain in 1947, this wall fountain ... The fountain is set within a niche featuring a shell motif.


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Reference comments

28 mins
Reference:

Puits à coquille

"It houses the spiral staircase, the well and its Renaissance lectern carved shell."
Reference:

http://www.vieux-lyon.org/webphone/visit-us-07.htm

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5 days
Reference:

Une voûte en coquille ici

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