Brussels 1925-1940, Sterling Silver, Set Of Ciborium, Chalice And Paten, Vandenhoute

Sumptuous set of a very large ciborium and its chalice with paten in solid silver of the first alloy 900%) from the Art Deco period. They were made by the goldsmith Vandenhoute in Anderlecht. This house, founded in 1879 by the Bellemans family, specialized in the manufacture of copperware and goldsmithery for churches. Thanks to the collaboration of some very talented creators like Paul Lateur, son of the writer Stijn Streuvels, they produced very beautiful works in the Art Deco style. The chalice has a knot in repoussé silver, decorated with two fish and a basket filled with five loaves, recalling the multiplication of the loaves according to the Gospel of Saint Mark. Its hexagonal foot is engraved with a Latin cross on a background of a bunch of grapes. On the cup is engraved a frieze of vine leaves and stylized grapes. The ciborium is much larger than the average of its time and can contain several hundred hosts. Its cup is engraved with a frieze containing a text from the first letter of the apostle John: "Deus est Caritas" or "God is Charity/Love". The foot of the ciborium sheds a little more light on the reason for the presence of this text on the ciborium. Because it is engraved with a coat of arms that does not belong to a family or a person but to a religious order: the Brothers of Charity. This community of lay brothers was founded in 1807 by the Ghent Canon Triest to provide medical and spiritual care to the sick and poor at the "Bijloke" hospital in Ghent. The community quickly grew and specialized in teaching deaf and blind children and in psychiatric care. Today they still care for hundreds of institutions in more than thirty countries and have more than 500 brothers and thousands of caregivers. Their coat of arms contains a heart, a cross and an anchor (love/charity, faith, and hope). A well-known Christian symbolism inspired by the words of Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: "What remains today is faith, hope and charity; but the greatest of the three is charity." The set is completed with a beautiful and heavy paten. The interior of the three pieces is gilded and this vermeil is in good condition.