Verlhac-sur-Tescou

Listed by Enlart (1902) in a group of footless tub-shaped fonts: this one is dated to the 14th century and ornamented with columns on the basin sides ("colonnettes au centre des faces"). Corblet (1881-1882) simply lists it as a 12th-century font. On-site notes: the parish church at Verlhac-sur-Tescou turned out a pathetic octagonal font of modern manufacture and a plater holy-water stoup; the baptismal font had been removed to Montauban. The Musée Ingres at Montauban exhibits the medieval font from Verlhac-sur-Tescou "en dépôt de la Société archéologique de Tarn-et-Garonne", with inventory number MI.50.20 in its basement exhibit area, among a variety of funeral slabs and other objects, all for a single entrance fee. The rather unique octagonal tub-shaped font has a slender ornamental column with capital and base on each of its eight sides; one of the sides has a large indentation cut out, probably to fit it somewhere in the church at some point in its past. Another unique feature are the vertical mouldings that adorn the inside angles of the basin well, with snake-head-like extendions towards the central drain. There is damage evidence where the original lid staples were removed. The material appears to be limestone of a light beige colour. [NB: our gratitude to the Museum administration and staff for their kind permission to document the font during a very busy school-visit afternoon]