Frepillon / Frépillon

INFORMATION

Font ID: 03952FRE
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: 1626
Font Century and Period/Style: 17th century(early)
Church / Chapel Name: Église Saint-Nicolas
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Nicholas of Myra
Site Location: Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France, France, Europe
Directions to Site: In the canton de Taverny, arrondissement de Pontoise
Font Notes:
Listed and illustrated in Le patrimoine des communes du Val-d'Oise (1999) as an exceptionally small example of the bath-tub type of font (it is onlly 59 cm in length); it has a Greek palindrome inscribed on the upper surface of the rim [cf. Inscription] and the date 1626. The font is of a reddish marble with white veins.

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble (red)
Font Shape: oval
Basin Interior Shape: oval
Basin Exterior Shape: oval
Drainage System: centre hole in basin
Drainage Notes: It is not very clear in the source, but it looks like a central drain
Diameter (includes rim): 59 cm*
Basin Depth: 35 cm
Notes on Measurements: *given as length in Le patrimoine des communes du Val-d'Oise (1999, v. 2, p. 849)

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Greek and numbers
Inscription Location: upper surface of the rim
Inscription Text: "1626 + NI[PH]ON ANOM HMATAMH MONA NO[PH]IN" [NB: the inscription has the Greek letter PHI but we have used "ph" to transcribed it here] -- Engl. transl.: "Wash your sins inside, not just the outside of your body"
Inscription Notes: This Greek palindrome has been used in other fonts or baptisteries
Inscription Source: Le patrimoine des communes du Val-d'Oise, 1999, v. 2, p. 849

REFERENCES

  • Tewkesbury Abbey (a Pitkin guide), Andover, Hants.: Pitkin Pictorials, 1992, vol. 2, p. 849