Holy water holders and ornaments depicting the Virgin and Child
In his 1921 catalogue of the Samuel Butler Collection, Butler’s friend and biographer Henry Festing Jones explains: ‘These holy water holders and Madonnas are some of the cheap religious knick-knacks which are sold at most Italian Sanctuaries. We often brought back a few and gave them away to Gogin, Alfred, Clark, and other friends.’
In this photograph showing Butler’s sitting room at 15 Clifford’s Inn, London, you can see some of these souvenirs on the wall and on the mantelpiece.
