{"product_id":"1830-first-communion-certificate-basset-engraving-notre-dame-de-bourg","title":"Antique 1830 First Communion Certificate | Engraving by Basset, Paris | Notre-Dame de Bourg | Signed by the Curé","description":"\u003cp\u003eA beautiful early 19th-century French \u003cstrong\u003eFirst Communion certificate\u003c\/strong\u003e, dated \u003cstrong\u003e1830\u003c\/strong\u003e – the final months of the Bourbon Restoration – issued to a young girl and signed by her parish priest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe certificate is a fine \u003cstrong\u003ecopperplate engraving\u003c\/strong\u003e headed in elegant script \u003cem\u003e“Précieux souvenir si vous êtes fidèle”\u003c\/em\u003e (“A precious keepsake, if you remain faithful”). It shows a priest in a richly embroidered chasuble giving Holy Communion before a high altar with a tabernacle and six tall candlesticks, assisted by a server holding the chalice and an acolyte with a candle, while veiled girls in white kneel in rows on either side.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeneath the scene, the printed text is completed by hand in brown ink:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Cécile Rossignol a fait sa 1re Communion dans l’Église de N.-D. de Bourg le 21 du mois de Mars de l’Année 1830”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e(“Cécile Rossignol made her First Communion in the Church of Notre-Dame de Bourg on the 21st of March in the year 1830”)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is signed by the \u003cem\u003ecuré\u003c\/em\u003e with a flourished signature. The publisher’s line reads \u003cstrong\u003e“à Paris chez Basset, rue St Jacques N° 64 – Déposé”\u003c\/strong\u003e: the Basset house was one of the best-known Parisian print publishers of devotional and popular images in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Notre-Dame de Bourg is most likely the collegiate church of Notre-Dame in Bourg-en-Bresse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDetails\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eType:\u003c\/strong\u003e engraved and hand-completed First Communion certificate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Basset, rue Saint-Jacques 64, Paris\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 21 March 1830\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e French\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e sheet approx. 15.5 × 18.5 cm (6.1 × 7.3 in), laid on a card mount approx. 17.5 × 21 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e good; age toning and foxing, small corner losses and edge wear, firmly mounted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn evocative piece of French Catholic family history, nearly two centuries old. The item you receive is the exact one pictured.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sacra Relics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59226335314255,"sku":null,"price":59.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1035\/5556\/3855\/files\/1830-first-communion-certificate-notre-dame-de-bourg-engraving.jpg?v=1792709530","url":"https:\/\/sacrarelics.com\/products\/1830-first-communion-certificate-basset-engraving-notre-dame-de-bourg","provider":"Sacra Relics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}