Saint-Germain-pres-de-Guise / Saint-Germain-près-de-Guise

Described and illustrated in Malézieux (1873), who states that, although almost identical to the font at Berthenicourt, the font at Saint-Germain is to all apearences older, probaly 12th-century, while the one at Berthenicourt 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". Corblet (1881-1882) mentions simply that it is of the 12th century. The font consists of a round basin with four protruding human heads at 90-degree angles; the four heads appear to be male, bearded; on one of the sides between them are a passant quadruper, probably a lion, and on another rings of an acanthus (?) vine [NB: our present source only shows two sides]; raised on a broad central shaft and four detached colonnettes at 90-degree angles, bases made of roll mouldings; on a round lower base. The wooden cover is round, flat and plain, with a wooden handle and a cross bar that locks into iron staples at opposite ends of the upper rim.