Vaire / Vairé

INFORMATION

Font ID: 05595VAI
Object Type: Stoup
Font Century and Period/Style: 5th - 11th century, Merovingian?
Church / Chapel Name: [not in a church]
Font Location in Church: [now located in the Place de l'Église [church square]]
Church Address: Place de l'Église, 85150 Vairé, France
Site Location: Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off the D32-D55 crossroads, 12-13 km N of Les Sables-d'Olonne
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Luçon
Additional Comments: damaged stoup: said to be a Merovingian stoup now in the church square serving as flower-pot
Font Notes:
Described and illustrated in Le Patrimoine... de la Vendée (2001, v. 2: 956) as a Merovingian holy-water stoup found in 1855 in the diggings of the ancient 7th-century cemetery, together with many other artifacts. The object, now serving as a flower-pot in the church square, is very worn and damaged; it appears cylindrical and may have had some motif or shape carved on the sides, but it is too far gone to discern any detail with any certainty [NB: as in the case of several other such "Carolingian" and "Merovingian" objects in this area, these claims could well be questioned].

COORDINATES

UTM: 30T 595378 5161596
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 46.601151, -1.754677
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 46° 36′ 4.15″ N, 1° 45′ 16.84″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: cylindrical?, unmounted
Basin Interior Shape: round?
Basin Exterior Shape: round?

REFERENCES

  • Le Patrimoine des communes de la Vendée, Paris: FLOHIC, 2001, vol. 2, p. 956