Nevers earthenware plate Nevers earthenware plate from the end of the 18th century. Dated 1766. Deep plate with patronymic decoration in the center of a representation of Saint Claude on a mound, inscribed: Claude Laurent. "Patronymic earthenware" is understood to mean a piece whose personalized decoration associates a first name, a surname and a date with the image of a patron saint. In the 17th as in the 18th century, the immense religious fervor enjoyed by the saints gradually lost its intensity: if they are evoked in patronymic earthenware, it is more by habit and respect for tradition than by conviction. They are represented with distinctive attributes that recall their function or the most significant episodes of their life or their martyrdom, symbolized by a palm. The images, whose direct origin is difficult to determine, are borrowed from a typology derived from the most conventional hagiographic iconography, also used at the same time in statuary, paintings and engravings. It is certain that marriages, their celebration or commemoration, constituted the main occasion for such orders. Many examples documented by the archives show that the date inscribed corresponds in the majority of cases to that of the manufacture of the piece, with a delay of approximately six months in relation to the event to be celebrated. These plates were most often ordered in several copies, the number of which could vary from two to six, or even exceptionally reach a dozen, and they were offered as gifts to relatives. Finally, it seems obvious that, in a domestic universe poor in images, their function was essentially commemorative and decorative, and that the plates were rather placed in the dresser, the salad bowls being able to be hung on the wall thanks to two holes on the back provided for this purpose Saint Claude Bishop of Besançon. Initially a soldier, he embraced the monastic life in Condat in the Jura before being elected Bishop of Besançon. But as soon as he could, he resigned this position to return to solitude. His monastery and the neighboring village took his name and the diocese placed itself under his patronage: 500 years after his death, thanks to the intact preservation of his body, many pilgrims flocked to the abbey where miracles multiplied. The pilgrimage of Saint-Claude then enjoyed a reputation equal to that of Lourdes today. Among the illustrious pilgrims, we can cite King Louis XI, Saint Jeanne de Chantal and Saint François de Sales. The body of the holy miracle worker is exposed twice a day to the piety of visitors who kiss his hands and feet. Many miracles are recorded in manuscripts and attested by the presence of witnesses, including that of a dead child brought back to life. This is why Saint Claude is often depicted with a child. With the French Revolution, an iconoclastic frenzy seized the representatives of the people. The body of Saint Claude was burned in 1794; only the left forearm survived, authenticated by one of the doctors who had examined the body fifty years earlier. This forearm is still preserved today in a reliquary in the cathedral Condition: a piece of the edge of the wing has been glued back on, small chip on the edge D: 23.5 cm Height 4 cm