Saint-Etienne-de-Mer-Morte No. 1 / St-Étienne-de-Mer-Morte

Listed and illustrated in Le patrimoine des communes de la Loire-Atlantique (1999) as a granite font and dated to the Carolingian times. It appears as an octagonal basin with a round inside well; the only visible ornamentation is a thin round moulding at the bottom of the basin side; there could be other motifs on the hidden sides. According to the source [cf. supra] this basin was discovered buried in the foundations during the repair of the bell-tower and was offered "au premier passant qui voulut l'accepter et la sauver du concasseur" [=to the first passerby who would take it and save it from the crushing-mill/steam-roller] (Ibid., v. 1, p. 561). [NB: the present location of this object is given in this source simply as "La Tour"]