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French to English translations [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Archaeology / ancient art
French term or phrase:il faut admettre le cas où
Hi again! DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient Egyptian mirrors. Catalog entry. CONTEXT: 44093. Ornement de base de manche de miroir. - Or et pierres d'incrustation. - Haut. 0 m. 022 mill. (pl. XXII). [....] TECHNIQUE. [....] Les débris rassemblés dans la tête d'Hâthor, qui faisait probablement partie du même objet [as 44093], donnent à supposer que c'était du bois; mais ***il faut aussi admettre le cas où*** le bois était seulement réservé à la partie de la virole; le reste, c'est-à-dire la partie principale du manche, étant en ivoire. ATTEMPT: The remains aggregated in the Hathor head [No. 44089], which was probably once part of this same object, suggests that it was of wood; but the case in which the wood was reserved for only the ferrule section has to be considered as well; the rest, i.e., the principal part of the handle, being of ivory. ISSUE: I'm not clear on whether my author referring to one specific case where this happened or a series of cases where this has happened. I'm not even sure whether he's saying that it's just a possible occurrence -- considering the source! But "était" is just imperfect indicative so it should be straightforward. It just doesn't read so I must be mistranslating "il faut admettre le cas où". Thank you in advance for your help!
Explanation: Not quite as literal, but I don't believe that he is using "virole" in the more common, modern sense of "ferrule" (i.e., a ring of *metal*), but only to indicate the articulated, thickened section commonly seen at the top of the handle.
Here it is in context:
The surviving fragments of the head of Hathor, which were most likely part of the same object, lead one to suppose that it [i.e., the whole handle, not just the head] was of made entirely of wood; but it is also possible that wood was only used to form the upper (ferrule) part of the handle; the major part of the handle being fabricated in ivory.
Check out the images results for googles on "virole" and "ferrule" --not a one in wood, all in metal; clearly, his "virole" is not a "ferrule" in the most commonly used sense of that word.
I had assumed collier and virole was being used interchangeably because of the following: Before Bénédite started this virole business with entry #44089, he called this part of the handle collier not virole and I think collet at times. He also called 44090 and 44091 collier. Vernier describes these two pieces in his own 1925 Catalog Entries #53107 and #53163 as virole. He lists Bénédite in his Bibliographies and I also assumed Vernier had read Bénédite's work. https://archive.org/stream/VernierBijouxI3#page/n183/mode/1u... https://archive.org/stream/VernierBijouxI3#page/n164/mode/1u... After searching, I've found Bénédite only uses virole in these two connected pieces 44093 and 44089 as well as once in 44026 (handle of ivory & wood) where he says: le chapiteau, formant virole, maintenait avec sa cheville transversale l'assemblage des deux parties. So the capital served as a ferrule! I thought finding other descriptions (esp. later ones) of the same items might help clarify, but it sure backfired. Thanks so much!
There are countless examples in the catalog plates of handles with thickened bands ("rings") at the top of handles (in wood and also in brass?).
These "rings" have led him to sometimes say that the wood handles were turned on a lathe (we don't have to litigate that unproven assumption again, do we?).
Does he ever refer to this top element of the handle as a "virole" --meaning (in my sense of it) a [faux] "ferrule"?
There simply *is* no "ferrule" made of metal in any of the examples he catalogs, is there?
So there can be no "wood part inserted into the ferrule" [i.e., in the sense of a metal ring].
And "le bois était seulement réservé à la partie de la virole" suggests to me that he means that the "virole" was, indeed, made of wood --thus, not referring to a "ferrule" in our sense of a metal ring (around a wooden/ivory core), but rather to the topmost "element" of the handle.
And, again, I maintain that there can be no "ferrule" [ring] fabricated in wood fitted on the top end of the handle; and, hence, nothing "inserted" into it.
Thanks very much! Since the author doesn't say the ferrule is made of wood, I'm thinking he's saying the wood part was inserted into the ferrule. even more confusing: previously he said: Du côté opposé, à la section du menton, on voit encore, engagé dans la douille, ici presque carrée, l'extrémité de la tige qui paraît être en argent et de chaque côté des débris ligneux qui sont les deux lamelles ou dents du tenon aménagé au sommet de la poignée, entre lesquelles venait s'engager la tige. He also clearly says that the head is made of gold, silver, quartz, and paste inlays. Thus I am lost much of the time.
(Perhaps) he's only using "virole" in the sense of an articulated "ring" element at the top of the handle, not in the (modern and more usual) sense of a "ring" of metal used to strengthen the fragile end of the handle to keep it from splitting because of the mortise made for the tang --and the stress on that upper part because of the weight of the mirror.
It's just hard to see how a "virole" (i.e., literally a "ferrule" in English) could be made of wood.
He speculates (why??) that the rest of the handle (below the virole/ring element) *might* have been made of ivory (rather than wood).
But he ventures no guess as to how the two elements --the wood virole and the rest of the handle (in ivory) might have been joined together.
Perhaps this speculation was an attempt to answer the question of why he's got a surviving part of the virole (in wood), while nothing else of the handle survived --ivory being much more likely to disintegrate with time than wood.
"The surviving fragments of the head of Hathor, which were most likely part of the same object, lead one to suppose that it [i.e., the whole handle, not just the head] was of made entirely of wood; but it is also possible that wood was only used to form the upper (ferrule) part of the handle; the major part of the handle being fabricated in ivory."
A problem I have with your reading is that I really can't envision a "virole" (ferrule) being made of wood; the purpose of that ferrule ring around the top of the handle is to prevent the relatively fragile handle (made of wood or ivory and subject to splitting) cracking because of the weakening caused by the insertion of the tang and the stress of the heavy mirror above the tang.
The only way I can make sense out it it is that he's not using "virole" in the strict sense of a "ferrule", but rather means that wood was only used (or *may* have only been used) for the critical upper tip of the handle, which was weakened by the mortise made to hold the tang. That upper, stronger wooden part was all that survived, and he's allowing for the possibility that the rest of the handle may have been made of ivory [attached to the wood how??].
Maybe debris? The head as described previously [no mention of wood]: has a piece of corroded metal emerging from the top of the head still filled with mastic; it is the disk's tang still coated by a very friable substance that is from the mastic stained by the oxidation from the piece of metal with which it was in contact. aggregate = 1. a whole formed by combining several (typically disparate) elements. 2. a material or structure formed from a loosely compacted mass of fragments or particles. synonyms: collection, mass, agglomeration, conglomerate, assemblage; mixture, mix, combination, blend, accumulation; compound, alloy, amalgam Thank you!
Explanation: I'd suggest calling the material "vestiges" lying or accumulating in the head. And "MADE OF wood (or ivory)" sounds more natural than "of wood", or use IN wood/ivory.
ormiston Local time: 14:06 Native speaker of: English
22 hrs confidence:
it is also possible that
Explanation: Not quite as literal, but I don't believe that he is using "virole" in the more common, modern sense of "ferrule" (i.e., a ring of *metal*), but only to indicate the articulated, thickened section commonly seen at the top of the handle.
Here it is in context:
The surviving fragments of the head of Hathor, which were most likely part of the same object, lead one to suppose that it [i.e., the whole handle, not just the head] was of made entirely of wood; but it is also possible that wood was only used to form the upper (ferrule) part of the handle; the major part of the handle being fabricated in ivory.
Check out the images results for googles on "virole" and "ferrule" --not a one in wood, all in metal; clearly, his "virole" is not a "ferrule" in the most commonly used sense of that word.
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