Description:
Item #: 11-649-0
Large Vintage French Holy Water Font Madonna Lourdes
Comment:
A very beautiful Holy Water vessel that would have been used in the entrance of a home. An unusual design makes this an interesting piece!
Subject:
OUR LADY OF LOURDES, MADONNA OF LOURDES
On February 11, 1858, a 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her in the remote Grotto of Massabielle, outside Lourdes, France. The lady appeared to Bernadette eighteen times over the next six months and identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. Catholics believe this to be an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. She was wearing a blue sash around her waist, a rosary on her arm and had roses at her feet. The spring water from the grotto is also believed to possess healing properties and the Catholic Church has recognized 67 miracle healings from it. Saint Bernadette was canonized in 1933.
Since the apparitions, Lourdes has become one of the world's leading Catholic pilgrimage sites, with an estimated 200 million pilgrims since 1860, and 4 - 6 million visitors annually. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine twice and Pope Benedict XVI visited in September 2008 to mark the 150th anniversary.
Object: Holy Water Font
Origin: France
Dimensions (inches:)
11.50H x 7.50W x 2D
Date: 1940
Condition:
GOOD
In overall good condition. Antique and vintage items by their very nature show normal wear to finish and miscellaneous scratches, nicks, and dings due to age and use. As we define 'good condition' relative to the stated age of the piece, we would expect to see 'character marks' consistent with that age and could include nicks or dings to a wooden or metal object, wear to a painted surface, speckling on a mirror, crazing or manufacturing glaze skips in ceramic finish, wear to a label, and some original decorative trim may be missing. If ceramic/porcelain restoration has been done, it is of museum-quality so that it is hardly discernable and would be mentioned in the listing. 'Good condition' would not include chips or cracks in any glass or ceramic item.
Material:
METAL
Metalworking had its beginnings millions of years ago. At some point in the distant past humankind discovered that certain rocks could be smelted, producing metal. Further, they discovered that the metal product was malleable and ductile and thus able to be formed into various tools, adornments and put to other practical uses. As it is often difficult to determine the exact composition of metal objects due to the prevalent use of metal plating and alloys, EuroLux Antiques uses the term metal rather than the more specific terms copper, brass, aluminum, steel, etc. for its listings in order to avoid confusion.
MetalColor(s): Brass
Style:
RELIGIOUS
Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object that is considered sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. The Christian religion is centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God.
Christianity has played a prominent role in shaping Western civilization since the 4th century. Currently Christianity has between 1.5 billion and 2.1 billion followers, representing about a quarter to a third of the world's population. With more than 1 billion members, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest church representing over half of all Christians and one sixth of the world's population.
Shipping:
This item will be shipped within the Contiguous 48 United States via a Ground shipping service (UPS or FedEx), approximate 1-6 business day shipping time. EuroLux Antiques may ship some packages via USPS Parcel Post, approximately 2-9 business day delivery time, at its sole discretion. All shipments include insurance.
Additional Information:
Because EuroLuxAntiques maintains its own website and lists on other online sites, while also operating a physical store location in Newberry, South Carolina, we reserve the right to end any listing early if it has not been purchased outright or no bids have been placed upon the item. On occasion, a piece listed on a website may no longer be available. We do our best to maintain the accuracy of our inventory records but we often have customers interested in the same item at the same time. In those cases, we defer to the customer who placed the earlier order. We apologize in advance by any inconvenience this may cause. Because of this, we encourage all of our buyers to purchase the item as quickly as possible so that your treasured find doesn't sell elsewhere to someone else. Happy browsing and thanks! Aimee & Greg Talbot at EuroLuxAntiques.
Additional Pictures:
In many cases, EuroLux Antiques has many more pictures of our items than this website allows us to place in our descriptions. If you are interested in seeing these additional pictures, please email or call us and we would be happy to send the pictures to you if they are available.
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