Holy Water Font by Sarreguemines France, Very Rare Perfect Example, Circa 1930, 37 x 19cm

Holy Water Font by Sarreguemines France, Very Rare Perfect Example, Circa 1930, 37 x 19cm

Very easy to date this beautiful faience plate as it has a perfect Sarreguemine mark which was used between 1930 and 1950 and the family it came from informed me that it was bought by their grandparents around 1930.

It is extremely rare to find faience of this age that is in perfect condition with no chips or cracks but with this one even the holes at the rear for hanging this beautiful Holy Water Font are perfect. It appears never to have been wall mounted all its life and never moved because, although it was really dirty when I found it, it was just surface dirt and beneath was this masterpiece.

The Benitier, as it is called in France, is large at 37 centimetres long and 19 centimetres at its widest point.

Soft porcelain or faience was produced at the factory in Sarreguemines from 1790 when Nicolas-Henri Jacobi together with two other partners set up the first factory despite the unfavourable economic climate. Jacobi then bought an oil mill by the river and transformed it into a stone-grinding mill. In 1794, Jacobi took over the molds and left-over material from the facility in Ottweiler a.d. Saar, which had stopped producing porcelain around 1770 shortly after being taken over by René François Jolly and Nikolas Leclerc in 1769.

Still, the difficulties in obtaining supplies of raw materials as well as the hostility and suspicion of local inhabitants remained. In addition to the competition from the large amount of English and French manufacturers, the upheaval caused by the Revolution finally forced Jacobi to give up.

It was a dynamic young Bavarian, Paul Utzschneider, who took over the factory in 1800 and produced new designs and techniques. The factory quickly became very popular particularly as Napoleon Banaparte was one of their best customers and ordered many pieces.

It will ship by courier with full international tracking and this is reflected in the shipping cost. For the courier could you please add your telephone number in the notes section on checkout.