16th century Baptismal Font - Bottesford, Leicestershire

1500 to 1530
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This highly elaborate octagonal font belongs to the closing phase of the medieval period and is best assigned to the early 16th century. The bowl is carved with a series of deep rectangular niches, each framed by a slender arch with a moulded head. Within these compartments appear a mixture of religious and naturalistic motifs: one panel shows a winged angel holding a shield or lozenge-shaped device, while the adjoining panels present vigorously carved roses and foliage. The style is robust and slightly naïve, with heavy outlining and a strong emphasis on surface texture—features characteristic of late Gothic vernacular carving in the East Midlands.

Beneath the bowl, the moulded underside gives way to two clustered shafts, each formed of bulbous, almost fruit-like lobes stacked in tiers. These support the bowl above and rest on an octagonal base, the angles of which are populated with lively beasts or grotesques crouched at the corners. This combination of naturalistic ornament, playful grotesquerie, and dense carving reflects the eclectic decorative vocabulary found in early Tudor church furnishings.

The font’s overall design—architectural panels, angelic imagery, abundant roses, and multilobed stems—strongly suggests a date in the early 1500s, a period when traditional Gothic forms continued in parish churches despite the rise of Renaissance influences elsewhere.

This is an outstanding survival of late-medieval sculptural work in Leicestershire, its unusual twin-stem support and richly carved bowl distinguishing it from the simpler Perpendicular fonts typical of the region.