Art & Design - church artifacts art

Fonts

Fonts are usually positioned near the entrance to a church.


Water is put into the font for baptism – a ceremony when people are baptised and become members of the Church.


Most fonts are made of stone, a few rare ones are very small and made from metal placed on a stand.
Stone fonts are often decorated or carved with angels and saints or figures to represent the 7 sacraments of the church – find out what these are!

 

 

font This font stands opposite the main door on the north side of the nave (the central aisle of the church). It is made of Caen stone and was given to the church by the mining engineer at the local colliery. His name is recorded on the font in words and carvings. The font is a hexagonal cup with sculptures on the panels, raised on a base and stalk. The panels show a word (inscription) at the top and a carving underneath:

Inscription   Depicting
Johannes   St John in the wilderness
Thomas   Christ showing His wounds to St. Thomas
Woodhouse   A rebus representing Noah's Ark (wooden boathouse)
Hunc fontem dedicavit   Kneeling figure of Mr. Woodhouse who gave this font
Domino nostro   Our Lord, shown on the Cross with two Marys kneeling either side
Deo Gloria   (Meaning "glory to God alone")

 

The font
Details of carvings on the font

 

 

This Italian font is made from marble and alabaster with six sides. On the sides there are groups in white marble of Jesus with children, Mary with Jesus as a baby, and the boy John the Baptist.

 

 

 

  font This more contemporary font is positioned in the North East corner of the church and is a cylindrical design, mounted on a plinth of green marble. It is constructed around a steel frame with bark-effect laminate panelling to give the appearance of a tree trunk.