Beautiful French Art Deco devotional medal or plaque featuring Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. This specific piece is signed on the left by the artist or foundry "HARGAS". These silver-plated or bronze metal medallions were very popular in France during the early-to-mid 20th century. We date this piece to the late 1920s to 1930s.
Thérèse of Lisieux passed away in 1897, but she was not officially declared a saint by the Catholic Church until May 17, 1925. The inscription on the medal explicitly styles her as "Sainte Thérèse" (Saint Thérèse) rather than "Sœur Thérèse" (Sister Thérèse) or "Bienheureuse Thérèse" (Blessed Thérèse, a title she held briefly from 1923 to 1925). This establishes a firm production timeline starting no earlier than 1925. Following her canonization, Saint Thérèse became one of the most universally popular modern figures in Catholic devotional history. French foundries and artists (like Hargas) experienced a massive boom, manufacturing hundreds of thousands of these silvered-bronze medallions, often mounting them to alabaster or onyx backings to meet the immense international demand for her shrine souvenirs through the 1930s.
These medallions, frequently mounted on a polished white alabaster, marble, or onyx base, served as freestanding miniature altar icons or tabletop devotional plaques for the home. However, because the back has only a single hole, the grooves in the stone and the glue residue change everything. The presence of a drilled or cast hole (rather than a loop or easel) changes how this piece was originally used and displayed. This could have been an Architectural / Furniture Inset. These stone-mounted medals were frequently inset directly into wood. They were fastened inside home altars (prie-dieu), private prayer desks, or heavy wooden frames. Possibly a Wall Font Attachment. The white stone base may have originally been part of a larger holy water font (bénitier). The hole served as the anchoring point to screw or pin the stone backing onto a wall plate or wooden shield. Direct wall pinning. The hole allowed a flush mount directly against a wall using a decorative brass screw or peg.
The question of its original use will never be answered, but there are certainly many possibilities. It measures 2.5" wide and 4" long. The stone is a good .50" thick. A wonderful addition to any collection.
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