Goirke / Goirke in Tilburg (Noord-Brabant)

Described and illustrated in [https://www.regionaalarchieftilburg.nl/zoek-een-foto/detail/063de77a-883c-4dd0-8fe9-3083f94aa4c8] [accessed 28 December 2021]: "Hardstenen doopvont uit 1590 in de Goirkese kerk. Op de bovenrand staat de tekst: "Asperges me hyssopo et mundabar 1590"". The entry for this church in Reliwiki [https://www.reliwiki.nl/index.php/Tilburg,_Goirkestraat_68_-_Dionysius_(Goirkese_Kerk)] [accessed 28 December 2021] reports a 16th-century baptismal font made of blue limestone in 1570-1579; the same source reports a later font of 1876, the anniversary gift of pastor-dean Van de Ven, made by August G.J. Bertou of Antwerp. The earlier font has a roughly hemispherical basin decorated with an stylised arcade on the side while interrupted by a large shield in a different kind of stone; the underbowl has floral and/or foliage motifs all around; the round pedestal stem has flute pattern with some inserts; the splaying lower base is decorated with a somewhat similar pattern as the basin. Inscription along the top rim. There are two different font covers, both of brass(?) used at different times on this font [cf. ImagesArea]: one is dome-shaped, the other is round, with a short cross finial. The provenance of this font is unknown, it being older than the church and not of a common design in the area.
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 30 April 2024) includes information and photographs of both fonts from Geert Eijsbouts, a local source: the old baptismal font may have been purchased at the time of the 19th-century re-building, while the new font was installed at a later date; Geert Eijsbouts offers to approach a local historian in search of further information to communicate to Pol Herman and BSI.
A further communication to BSI by Pol Herman (e-mail of 7 July 2025) informs that August G.J. Bertou [cf. supra] was a coppersmith in Antwerp, and that he only made the brass parts of the font, while the marble parts that he designed were made by the stone mason’s workshop Potevyn in Antwerp. Pol Herman further informs: "The baptismal font and the notification of his untimely death (only one year later) are mentioned in the journal “De Vlaamsche School” of 1876 and 1877". A Google translation of the text follows: "The gold- and silversmith and metal artist A. Bertou has made a baptismal font for the church of Tilburg, which is spoken of with much praise. The whole is executed in the style of the artistic revival; the bowl, of white marble, with gilded inscription, is decorated with water plants, resting on a pillar with a brass capital, under which is a hexagonal marble pedestal. The lid of the bowl, embossed in brass, is chapel-shaped. In the middle, St. Dionysus, patron saint of the city, with his two companions, Rusticus and Eleutherius; above, on an elegant dome, decorated with angels, St. Guillielmus, abbot, patron saint of the very reverend dean of Tilburg, adorns the surface as a reminder of his fiftieth jubilee, which will be celebrated soon. Aug. G.J. Bertou, one of Belgium's most excellent artists, died on 11th of June in Antwerp, his native city, aged only 36 years. As an orphan boy admitted to the Antwerp servant’s orphanage, he distinguished himself early by his great talent for the craft in which he trained himself with Mr. Lamb. Van Rijswyck; he later also attended classes at the Antwerp academy. A large number of gold and silver works, mostly made to order, will keep Bertou's name alive as that of one of the most gifted practitioners of a craft that requires not only great skill, but also artistry and refined taste, two qualities that the deceased possessed in high degree. After a funeral service, performed in St. Jacob's Church, Bertou was buried on 13th of June. Speeches were delivered at his grave by Messrs. Roucourt (Davidsfonds), F. Van Boghout (Dutch League), J. Van Herendael (Flemish People) and Van Genk (Language and Freedom)"