For those who appreciate the absolute finest in their collections we are pleased to offer this C1880-1890 Hand Painted Porcelain Holy Water Font from Paris.
This unique and wonderfully executed Religious font was most likely once a cherished piece in a private home. We see this piece delicately placed with your other Religious artifacts or gracing your wall shining on its own merit.
We believe this piece to have the makings of a treasured heirloom to be passed down through your family’s generations.
The Porcelain presentation of the Immaculate Conception with Mary is unforgettable with the detail of her Cobalt blue robes, her visage and being surrounded with angels, rivals the one done by Bartolome Esteban Murillo that rests in the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain.
The Sky Blue painted Brass Holy water font is unmatched in its grandeur and the Brass Gothic styled Frame with Cross at the top has a unique and noteworthy design.
The design and detail are utterly phenomenal and the Porcelain and Brass are of fine quality and a noteworthy medium for the piece. There is no mark.
Measures approx. 2”w by 4” tall and is 1.5 thick at the font.
There are no chips in the porcelain, and the brass is in excellent condition. It has a wonderful patina with the passage of time.
If you are selective when it comes to your home this French piece is certain to enrapture you. This is the only one of its kind we have encountered.
The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic dogma, the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus without any stain of original sin, in her mother's womb: the dogma thus says that, from the first moment of her existence, she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind, and that she was instead filled with divine grace.
It is further believed that she lived a life completely free from sin. Her immaculate conception in the womb of her mother, by sexual intercourse, should not be confused with the doctrine of the virginal conception of her son Jesus.
The feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8, was established in 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV. He did not define the doctrine as a dogma, thus leaving Roman Catholics freedom to believe in it or not without being accused of heresy; this freedom was reiterated by the Council of Trent. The existence of the feast was a strong indication of the Church's belief in the Immaculate Conception, even before its 19th century definition as a dogma.
The Immaculate Conception was solemnly defined as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in his constitution Ineffabilis Deus, on December 8, 1854.
The Roman Catholic Church believes the dogma is supported by Scripture (e.g. Mary's being greeted by Angel Gabriel as "full of grace" or "highly favoured"), as well as either directly or indirectly by the writings of many of the Church Fathers, and often calls Mary the Blessed Virgin (Luke 1:48). Catholic theology maintains that, since Jesus became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, it was fitting that she be completely free of sin for expressing her fiat. (Ott, Fund., Bk 3, Pt. 3, Ch. 2, §3.1.e). For the Roman Catholic Church the dogma of the Immaculate Conception gained additional significance from the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1858. In Lourdes a 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her. The lady identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception" and the faithful believe her to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation, except where conferences of bishops have decided, with the approval of the Holy See, not to maintain it as such. It is a public holiday in some countries where Roman Catholicism is predominant e.g. Italy. In the Philippines, although this is not a public holiday, the predominance of Catholic Schools make it almost a holiday.
