Hoepertingen No. 1 / Hubertenges / Huberthynken / Hubertinge / Hubertingen / Hubertinges / Hubertingis / Hubertinken / Hubretenges / Hvberthenken

A large fragment of the basin of a medieval font from Sint-Vedastuskerk, in Hoepertingen, is stored in Le Grand Curtius museum in Liège; it is a characteristic basin of a late-Romanesque Mosan font: round and slightly tapering in towards the underbowl, with four protruding human heads at 90-degree angles, the sides between decorated with well-rendered motifs, of which two have survived almost intact; these are an interlace of linked palmettes on one side, and a lion head with palmettes stemming from its mouth on another side; the two surviving heads are of the type that have a flat top, an almost cylindrical profile, and a large leaf below; these leaves are usually lined up with the four angle colonnettes of the base [the whole base here is missing] to which they serve as capitals. An article 'Parels van religieus erfgoed in Hoepertingen' in the April 2020 edition of Erfgoedkrant Haspengouw [https://www.erfgoedhaspengouw.be/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Erfgoedkrant-april-2020-NIEUW-def.pdf] [accessed 19 May 2024] informs that a local Hoepertigener, Luc Wijnants, is trying to get some of the old treasures, among them the baptismal font, back to its original home, the parish church of Sint-Vedastus / Sint-Vaast, from Le Grand Curtius museum in Liège. The article 'Perenboomgaardwandeling in Zepperen biedt wat het belooft' by Marijn Follebout, in the Verrassingen om de Hoek issue of 22 september 2016 [https://www.verrassingenomdehoek.be/2016/11/03/perenboomgaardwandeling/] [accessed 19 May 2024] informs that the ancient font had been removed from the church and located in the tithe barn ["tiendenschuur"] but, when the tithe barn was demolished the font had been moved to Liège, where it stood for well nigh 300 years; with the help of the expert in Romanesque fonts, professor Jean-Claude Ghislain, Luc Wijnants managed to get the ancient font back in the church ["Hemel en aarde heb ik bewogen om de doopvont in deze kapel te krijgen.”]