19th Century Holy Water Font Religious Irish Bisque Porcelain Angel

A stunning bisque porcelain water font in the form of angel holding a clam shell basin produced c.1890.

Elegantly hand painted in a soft colour palette with a great attention to detail and fantastic gilt decoration.

High quality antique bisque holy water fonts are scarce, especially those which are painted so finely.

I cannot be certain of its origin but the most similar example of a holy water font I can find is by Belleek from the 19th century. However, their examples are undecorated and ceramic, and not exactly the same design but certainly very alike. An angel carrying a clam shell is indeed a motif/symbol used within Christianity, I just wonder if there's a source of inspiration for this and of those done by Belleek situated in a shrine in Ireland.

In fantastic condition with no chips or cracks and the gilt is barely worn. Does have some additional character in form of burn marks on the bottom finial from spending time displayed above a candle.

Height: 28 cm - Width: 11.5 cm - Depth: 9 cm