80 GUERNSEY CHURCH PLATE. 



In the centre of the paten was an engraved representation* 

 of a church in the Italian style. 



* Rubbings of this may be seen among the Lukis papers in the Lukis 

 Museum, made at the time of the sale of the plate. 



There are eleven pieces in all. 



1. The Guille Cruet, Ampulla or Burette. 



Silver, part gilt. No hall or maker's marks. 



.'.In the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Feb. 28th, 1895, Mr. 

 W. H. St. John Hope gives the following account of this : — 



" The altar cruet is exhibited by the Rev. G. E. Lee, F.S.A., rector of 

 St. Peter-Port, Guernsey, to which church it has lately been given. It is an 

 object of far greater rarity than even a mediaeval chalice, so much so, that I 

 do not recall a single example in use in any church in this country. 



" This particular vessel is of silver parcel-gilt and measures, without the 

 knop of the cover, which is lost, 6§ inches in height. It has a globular body 

 with long tapering neck and spreading foot, and a flattened cover with thumb 

 piece. Unlike any other existing examples of cruets it has a curved handle, 

 and on the opposite side a slender curved spout. Between the neck of the 

 cruet and the spout is a connecting support in the form of a small gilt dragon, 

 represented as regardant and walking up the cruet. The spout springs from 

 a gilt boss formed of four fleur de lys-like ornaments in relief. From this 

 boss starts a raised belt which is carried round the body of the cruet It is 

 | inch wide, and encloses a gilt band inscribed in capital letters : 



* SANCTE * PAULE * * (?) ORAPRO * NOBIS # 



with roses for stops. Before the of ORA is an erased letter P, the result of 

 a blunder. The inscription is interrupted midway by the handle, which starts 

 from the lower edge of the band. It is 7/16 inch wide, and has throughout 

 its length an embossed pattern of floral sprays. At its junction with the band 

 is a half-length figure of St. James the Great between two escallop shells, but 

 upside down. A like pattern to that on the handle encircles the vertical edge 

 of the foot. At the junction of the body and neck is a reeded and gilded 

 band, and another such encircles the neck just below the lip. The lip is sur- 

 rounded by a similar reeded band, and has engraved on top a capital letter A 

 for Aqua. As these cruets were always made and used in pairs the lost fellow 

 to the example before us must have had on it a V for Vinum. 



" Although the cruet is not hall-marked, there can be little or no doubt 

 that it is English, and probably of London make. The lettering on the 

 medial band closely resembles that on the Rochester mazer of 1532-3 in the 

 possession of the President, and on the Tokerys mazer of 1531-5 belonging to 

 Mr. W. Jardone Brakenridge. Its date, therefore, is probably circa 1530-35. 



"The cruet is engraved, though not very accurately, in Specimens of 

 Ancient Church Plate, Sepulchral Crosses, §c, published at Oxford, Cambridge 

 and London in 1845, and is there said, to have belonged to the desecrated 

 chapel of St. Apolline, Guernsey. Mr Lee, however, tells me that the only 

 authority for this statement is the letter A engraved on the lid, which it is 

 needless to say does not stand for Apolline. 



" It is a matter of congratulation that this most interesting cruet, which 

 has long been in private hands, should have been given to a church to be 

 restored to its proper use. ' ' 



It is said to have been dug up in the parish of St. Saviour's and bought 

 from the finder by John Guille. It was presented by his grandson, the 

 Rev. H. G. de C. Stevens-Guille, in 1895, to St. Barnabas Church in memory 

 of his cousin, the Rev. Charles S. Guille. 



2. A copy of the Guille Cruet 6^ inches high. 



Silver, part gilt. 



