Chemaze No. 1 / Chemazé

Described and illustrated in Le patrimoine des communes de la Mayenne (2002, v. 1: 212): baptismal font dated by an inscription to 1456; the basin is rectangular with protruding upper and lower mouldings, and is raised on five squat polygonal columns ornamented with upper and lower mouldings; these shafts are arranged one in the centre and one at each of the corners of the rectangle. On of the long sides of the basin has a scene identified in this same source as: the donor of the font, Mathurin Lévesque, Seigneiur de Gastines, holding a large candle; behind him, his five and, behind her, their three children; all these figures are kneeling and facing right [cf. Index entry for Chemazé No. 2 for a font bearing the name "Mathurin le Potier" and dated 1467]. On the next narrow side to the right the source identifies St. Peter. On the other sides is an inscription which names the donor and the date of the donatio [cf. Inscription area for text]. The inner well of the basin is double, as is common in French fonts of this and later periods; a metal (?) lid ornamented with a small Latin cross covers the basin. [Flohic ref. no. 53060417]