Antique Catholic Sick Call Set – Oak Altar, Pietà, Last Supper

Antique Catholic Sick Call Last Rites Set – Oak Wall Altar with Pietà, Last Supper Print, Brass Candleholders & Holy Water Bottle (c.1885–1910)

Bring home a complete, late-Victorian Catholic sick-call set—made for a priest’s visit to the sick—housed in an oak wall cabinet with a three-dimensional chalkware Pietà behind glass and a Last Supper print inside the lower door.

Measurements

23 ½ inches tall

14 inches wide

3 ½ inches deep

What’s included

Oak wall cabinet with bevel-molded frame; fold-down lower door on chain supports lined in plum velvet; original paper dust-back present (torn, see photos).

3-D Pietà figure group (Mary with the Body of Christ) set behind glass in a polychrome, “stained-glass” style surround; gilt motto plate: “Blessed Be Thy Holy Name.”

Print after Leonardo’s Last Supper displayed in the lower glazed door (traditional for these sets).

Pair of ornate brass candleholders on scrolling bracket hinges—swing-out for use during the sacrament.

Crucifix: wood cross with cast brass corpus and INRI cartouche.

Holy water bottle: pressed glass with cork lid, embossed “FOR HOLY WATER—KEEP CONSTANTLY FILLED”; reverse with relief cross.

Small paten (host plate): silver-plated, engraved IHS monogram.

Spoon: silver-plate with beaded edge.

Linens & absorbent cotton (wrapped).

Printed guides:

Original period card “How to Prepare the Sick Room for the Priest’s Visit.”

Later reference card describing how to arrange the set (kept for context).

Italian devotional linen broadside dated “Roma, 5 Aprile 1890” with a reference to Pope Leo XIII—a rare survival.

How it was used

Families kept these sets ready so a priest could administer what was then called Extreme Unction (now the Anointing of the Sick). The lower door folds down to form the table. Candles are lit. The crucifix is placed upright, paten held under the chin to guard the Sacred Host, spoon sometimes used to assist Communion or water, holy water for blessings and purification, cotton to receive the oils, and linens to protect the table.

About the 1890 Italian linen

The printed textile is a devotional linen broadside—a sheet of woven cloth printed in Italian with prayers/instructions and bearing a dated line: “Roma, 5 Aprile 1890,” during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII. These were distributed by devotional societies; families folded and kept them with sick-call furnishings. Surviving examples on fabric are scarce because cloth was often repurposed or discarded. This piece helps anchor the set firmly to the late-19th-century practice of home devotion among Italian-speaking Catholic immigrants.

Back story & context

Sick-call sets flourished in late-19th to early-20th-century America as Catholic communities grew. Most wall altars featured lithographed images; a chalkware statuary Pietà like this is far less common and indicates a higher-grade ensemble meant to give a chapel-like presence in the home. The combination of English and Italian guides points to an immigrant household preserving familiar rites. The embossed holy-water bottle style and cork closure match devotional supply patterns seen c.1880–1910.

Date estimate

c. 1885–1910. Supported by cabinet construction, brass hardware, chalkware statuary style, the embossed bottle, and the 1890 dated devotional linen.

Condition (please see photos)

Cabinet sound; oak shows age patina and minor rubs.

Original paper dust-back present with losses/tears.

Chalkware Pietà clean; loss/rub to painted roundel at the very top border (see close-up).