Holy Water Font, Silver Medal of The Virgin Mary By Pierre Roche, France, On Marble Base, Hand Cut Crystal, Bronze Back Plate circa 1890
A stunningly beautiful and very rare Holy Water Font, or Benitier as they are called here, in gorgeous pink marble. It is the medal which accounts for its rarity as it was made by Pierre Roche.
Pierre Roche (Paris, 2 August 1855 – Paris, 18 January 1922), pseudonym of Pierre Henry Ferdinand Massignon, was a French sculptor, painter, ceramist and medallist. He was the father to Louis Massignon.
Roche first studied medicine and chemistry in Paris, but then switched to studying painting at the Académie Julian 1873–1878 under Alfred Roll, and exhibited at the Paris Salon 1884–1889.
In 1888 Roche tried sculpture to compete for a monument to Georges Danton, leading to encouragement by sculptor and teacher Jules Dalou. He went on to produce a number of commissioned works, like the fountain April (1906) in the Musée Galliera gardens, and L'Effort (c.1898) in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
His works are collected in the Musée d'Orsay, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Courtauld Institute of Art, and Harvard University Art Museums.
The medal is silver surrounded by a gilded bronze ring. It measures 5 centimtres in diameter. The wording around Our Blessed Mother The Virgin Mary is Ave Maria
The benitier is in excellent antique condition and in total it measures 15 cm in height, 8 cm at its widest point and the marble is 1 cm thick.
A truly remarkable and very beautiful piece.
A stunningly beautiful and very rare Holy Water Font, or Benitier as they are called here, in gorgeous pink marble. It is the medal which accounts for its rarity as it was made by Pierre Roche.
Pierre Roche (Paris, 2 August 1855 – Paris, 18 January 1922), pseudonym of Pierre Henry Ferdinand Massignon, was a French sculptor, painter, ceramist and medallist. He was the father to Louis Massignon.
Roche first studied medicine and chemistry in Paris, but then switched to studying painting at the Académie Julian 1873–1878 under Alfred Roll, and exhibited at the Paris Salon 1884–1889.
In 1888 Roche tried sculpture to compete for a monument to Georges Danton, leading to encouragement by sculptor and teacher Jules Dalou. He went on to produce a number of commissioned works, like the fountain April (1906) in the Musée Galliera gardens, and L'Effort (c.1898) in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
His works are collected in the Musée d'Orsay, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Courtauld Institute of Art, and Harvard University Art Museums.
The medal is silver surrounded by a gilded bronze ring. It measures 5 centimtres in diameter. The wording around Our Blessed Mother The Virgin Mary is Ave Maria
The benitier is in excellent antique condition and in total it measures 15 cm in height, 8 cm at its widest point and the marble is 1 cm thick.
A truly remarkable and very beautiful piece.
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