Nevers faience plate from the late 18th century. Dated 1766.

Deep plate with a patronymic decoration in the center depicting Saint

Claude on a mound, inscribed: Claude Laurent.

"Patronymic faience" refers to a piece whose personalized decoration combines a first name, a surname, and a date with the image of a patron saint.

In the 17th as well as the 18th century, the immense religious fervor enjoyed by saints gradually lost its intensity: if they are invoked in patronymic faience, it is more out of habit and respect for tradition than out of conviction. They are represented with distinctive attributes that recall their function or the most significant episodes of their life or martyrdom, symbolized by a palm. The images, whose direct origin is difficult to determine, are borrowed from a typology derived from the most conventional hagiographical iconography, also used at the same period in statuary, paintings, and engravings.

It is certain that marriages, their celebration or commemoration, were the main occasion for such commissions.

Numerous examples documented by archives show that the inscribed date in the majority of cases corresponds to the date of manufacture of the piece, with a delay of approximately six months relative to the event to be celebrated.

These plates were most often ordered in multiple copies, the number of which could vary from two to six, or even exceptionally reach a dozen, and they were offered as gifts to relatives. Finally, it seems obvious that, in a domestic environment poor in images, their function was essentially commemorative and decorative, and that the plates were more likely placed in a dresser, with salad bowls possibly being hung on the wall thanks to two holes on the back provided for this purpose.

Saint Claude

Bishop of Besançon. First a soldier, he embraced monastic life in Condat in the Jura before being elected bishop of Besançon. But as soon as he could, he resigned this charge to return to solitude. His monastery and the neighboring village took his name, and the diocese placed itself under his patronage:

500 years after his death, thanks to the intact preservation of his body, numerous pilgrims flocked to the abbey where miracles multiplied. The pilgrimage of Saint-Claude then enjoyed a reputation equal to that of Lourdes today. Among the illustrious pilgrims were King Louis XI, Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, and Saint Francis de Sales. The body of the wonder-working saint was exposed twice a day to the piety of visitors who kissed his hands and feet. Numerous miracles were recorded in manuscripts and attested by the presence of witnesses, including that of a dead child brought back to life. This is why Saint Claude is often depicted with a child.

With the French Revolution, an iconoclastic frenzy seized the representatives of the people. The body of Saint Claude was burned in 1794; only the left forearm survived, authenticated by one of the doctors who had examined the body fifty years earlier. This forearm is still preserved today in a reliquary in the cathedral.

Condition: a piece of the edge of the rim has been re-glued, small chip on the edge.

D: 23.5 cm

Height 4cm

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