[JONES] OLD CHURCH SILVER IN CAxNADA 149 



Normandy, and son of Etienne Ranvoyzé and his wife, Marie Jeanne 

 Poitras. François Ranvoyzé, the silversmith, was married on 25th 

 November, 1771, to Vénérande Pellerini. Whether he learned his 

 craft from one of the above silversmiths in his native city, or was sent 

 to Paris to serve an apprenticeship to one of the more experienced 

 members of the goldsmiths' guild there, cannot at the present moment 

 be precisely determined. That this French-Canadian silversmith 

 enjoyed a considerable patronage from the ecclesiastics and churches 

 of the province of Quebec is proved by the many examples of his skill 

 which are preserved to this day, notwithstanding the losses sustained 

 by various causes, such as fire and theft. The writer found evidence 

 of his workmanship surviving in the Archbishop's palace in Quebec, 

 in the Basilica; in the Ursuline Convent; and in Lorette, where, as 

 has already been mentioned, his son became the parish priest. All the 

 silversmiths above mentioned were born in Quebec or vicinity. 



François Ranvoyzé was an envious man. A premium would 

 not tempt him to accept as an apprentice the boy Laurent Amyot, 

 soon to become Quebec's most talented silversmith, lest he should 

 prove a formidable competitor. This boy was therefore sent by his 

 father to Paris to learn his craft, and there he worked hard for two 

 years, from 1784 to 1786, in the atelier of a goldsmith, whose name 

 unfortunately has not been traced. The young Amyot returned to 

 Quebec fully equipped for his craft, and during the remaining 33 years 

 of Ranvoyzé' s life was a steady and successful competitor, achieving 

 as he did a large measure of success in supplying Quebec churches with 

 sacred vessels and ornaments. Much of his success was due to the 

 increased patronage which arose from the virtual severance of ecclesi- 

 astical connection between French-Canada and old France from the 

 days of the Revolution and the consequent dissolution of the religious 

 houses in France. 



Laurent Amyot's workshop was on Mountain Hill in Quebec, 

 where he died in 1838. 



About the time of Amyot's death, Francois Sasseville began 

 working as a silversmith at the corner of Palace Hill and Charlevoix 

 Street, whether apprenticed to Ranvoyzé or Amyot, future researches 

 into the history of the silversmith's craft in Quebec will, it is hoped, 

 reveal. 



The present writer during an enjoyable and instructive visit to 

 Quebec in quest of knowledge for the history of this craft was privileged 

 to converse with an old silversmith named Ambroise Lafrance, who 

 was then in possession of the tools of Laurent Amyot, which had 

 descended to him from the above François Sasseville, then to Pierre 

 L'Espérance, who worked at the same address from 1863 to 1882, and 



