Lokeren

The entry for this church in BALaT KIK-IRPA lists two baptismal fonts: one of the 16th century [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/67236] [accessed 20 September 2024] and another of the 18th century [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/67239] [accessed 20 September 2024]; it appears that the 18th-century font is the one in use at this time [cf. ImagesArea]. A font at Lokeren (?) is listed by Corblet (1882) and in Cloquet (1890) among the figured Tournai fonts; Cloquet describes the ornamentation as "ornés de médaillons représentant le baptême de Christ et son entretien avec Nicodème". A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 18 September 2024)informs of the two fonts listed in KIK-IRPA. With regards the font reported in Cloquet [cf. supra] Pol Herman writes: "The Saint Lawrence church of Lokeren has 2 “unremarkable” baptismal fonts : https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/67236 & https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/67239. As far as I know, the first mention of a remarkable baptismal font in Lokeren appears on page 148 Jules Corblet’s « L’histoire dogmatique du Sacrament de Baptême”, tome II, 1882 ». [...] The name Lokeren is afterwards included in lists of old fonts, for example by Paul Rolland who puts Lokeren in his list of Romanesque, Tournai-type fonts. I suspect that Rolland and other later authors merely copied names from older sources, without checking and without personal knowledge of the font. In 2021, Jean-Claude Ghislain informed me that he had searched for the font in the 1970’s, but didn’t find any information. There is no trace of it, nobody had ever heard of it. Some days ago, Ghislain responded to my search for mysterious fonts by again mentioning the example of Lokeren : "D'autre part, je rappelle la fumisterie des prétendus fonts romans remarquables de caractère tournaisien de Lokeren, décorés de médaillons illustrant le baptême du Christ et son entretien avec Nicodème. Après avoir enquêté sur place, ces fonts cités à la fin du XIXe siècle en France, puis ailleurs par la suite, n'ont laissé aucun souvenir sur place." I decided to do a search on Lokeren, Nicodemus, Christ’s baptism, and médaillons. The result was : https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/66988. These are the doors of the old baptismal chapel of the church, today preserved in its museum. Probably made in 1731 by Gullielmus-Ignatius Kerricx. The iconography is identical to the description of Corblet. And this rang a bell. When I am searching baptismal fonts in old documents, I am frequently confused by the fact that in the past the words “doopvont” and “fonts baptismaux” were often used to name the baptismal chapel. I am looking for a liturgical piece of furniture, but I get lost in documents describing the history of the construction of a chapel (for example recently in Rumbeke). I am convinced that the information given by Jules Corblet on page 148 in “L’histoire dogmatique du Sacrament de Baptême”, volume II, 1882” is the result of an incorrect interpretation of the word “doopvont/fonts baptimaux” in his written sources. There was no such baptismal font, and it was not Romanesque and Tournai-type. Corblet probably based his quote on some source like « les fonts baptismaux remarquables de Lokeren sont ornés de médaillons représentant le baptême du Christ est son entretien avec Nicodème » Yesterday, Jean-Claude Ghislain agreed by writing : « Je vous remercie vivement d'avoir élucidé la confusion relative aux prétendus fonts baptismaux de Lokeren. » However, the oldest document about the church dates from 1139 (a recent study says 1154). One cannot exclude that there was a Romanesque baptismal font at that time. But it was probably lost during the religious unrest caused by the reformation in the 16th century. The city of Lokeren suffered a lot at that time."