Berthenicourt

Described and illustrated in Malézieux (1873), who states that, although almost identical to the font at Saint-Germain (near Guise), the latter is to all apearences older, probaly 12th-century, while the former he dates to the 13th-century; the author estimates the four heads to be those of the four Evangelists, and names a number of fonts of similar date and design at "Vermand, La-Neuvelle-la-Corbie, Vendeuil, Saint-Simon, Marle, Montdidier, Ver", and fragments in the churches of "Etreillers, Ribemont, Fonsomme, Gauchy, Marteville". Fleury (1887: 29997) lists a "Calque d'après Malézieux. fo. 34" of this font. Malézieux' rendering shows the font as it must have been at the time of his drawing, already missing the four angle colonnettes; the basin is round, with human heads [cf. supra] at 90-degree angles, the sides of the basin in between appear to have a human figure standing behind a passant quadruped, likely a lion; the roll mouldings that formed the bases for the angle colonnettes were still on the lower base of the font at the time. Listed by Enlart (1902) as a Romanesque Tournai font with four heads on the basin at 90-degree angles and mounted on a five-support base. Corblet (1881-1882) notes its date as the 13th century. A fragment of this font, made of Tournai limestone, survived the destruction of the 12th-century church in the First World War. Listed in Palissy [ref.: PM02000085]: "fonts baptismaux [...] 12e siècle [...] Oeuvre mutilée pendant la guerre de 1914-1918 [...] Vasque circulaire portée sur un fût monocylindrique, jadis cantonné de quatre colonnettes."