"THE PENIS TREE"
Milk Glass/Enamel/18k Gold /tin/copper
 
Created by Jeanne de Montbaston in the 1300's, The Penis Tree was one of many illustrations and marginalia attributed to her. She was the first woman to take the oath to the Paris Guild of Artisans. This ornament inspired by Monston's work, rendered  in translucent milk glass and finished with 18k gold detailing, tin and copper.  
 
******Illuminated manuscript grotesques, marginalia, and drolleries are the strange, witty, and often mischievous creatures and scenes that medieval scribes, often monks, tucked into the edges of their books from about the 12th to the 15th century. Grotesques—hybrid beings like lion-men, bird-fish, and snail-knights—grew popular by the 1200s, turning the margins into a fantastical menagerie. Marginalia became a creative playground where artists slipped in satire, visual jokes, and surreal little narratives that often had nothing to do with the main text. By the 14th century, marginalia—especially angry rabbits hunting humans or cats preaching—had become quite a commonplace find !