Saint-Hilaire No. 2 / Le Morgon / Santo Hilario

Clément (1891) writes: "A l'intérieur, on trouve dans l'étage inférieur un lourd bénitier octogonal du XVe s. Trois de ses faces sont ornées d'arcatures et de redents suivant le goût de l'époque; la face antérieure est décorée de l'écusson des de Saint-Hilaire: d'or à trois fers de dard de sable, les pointes en bas, posées deux et une" [cf. infra]. Listed in the Patrimoine des communes de l'Allier (1999) as what remains of a double-font that was broken up separating the volumes; one side of the basin has a Gothic arch motif with a five-leaf rosette under it. The listing in Palissy [ref.: PM03000442] describes it as a baptismal font -not a stoup- resembling an upturned ancient capital decorated with the arms of the lords of Saint-Hilaire [="Fonts baptismaux paraissant formés d'un ancien chapiteau renversé [...] 15e siècle [...] armoiries des seigneurs de Saint-Hilaire"] [NB: since the bottom of the shield on the stoup is pointing now in the right direction (down), it could not be an upturned capital]. The inner well of the basin appears to be of the same shape as the outer, i.e., octagonal. Whatever the original function of this object, it appears to serve now [2014] as a baptismal font. It has a modern metal cover, looking like a cake, of octagonal shape.