Little Chapel: Treasure of the Island
Expect the Unexpected
Guernsey’s best-kept secret is hidden in the middle of the island, nestled amidst elm trees and subtropical foliage. Considered to be the smallest consecrated chapel in the world, the exquisite Little Chapel can hold up to eight people. Its petite size is quaint and charming, but the real charisma of Little Chapel is found in its intricate pique-assiette décor.
What is pique-assiette décor? Based on my limited knowledge of French, “pique-assiette” translates as “anger plate.” Anger plate décor? That obviously doesn’t make sense. So I ran a quick French-to-English translation on the internet and discovered that pique-assiette means “scrounger.” Surely that can’t be right either. I tried a different translation dictionary; it gave me the same result—scrounger, sponger, or scavenger.
Obviously, they knew something I didn’t, so I accepted that Guernsey’s beautiful Little Chapel is adorned in “scrounger décor.”
Although this genre of mosaic art pre-dates the Roman Empire, it was not labeled “pique-assiette” until 1938, when a Frenchman named Raymond Edouard Isadore popularized the technique. One day, while walking in the countryside near his home in Chartres, France, Isadore noticed flickers of sparkling sunlight reflecting off shards of broken porcelain, pottery, and colored glass strewn about a local field. Receiving a flash of inspiration, he gathered all the broken pieces and used them to create mosaics on the walls of his house. He was so pleased with the result that he devoted the next 30 years of his life to covering everything in his entire house, and all its surrounding area with mosaic designs made from 15 tons of broken glass, pottery, and porcelain shards. Where did Isador get enough shards to keep him supplied for three decades? He replenished his inventory by frequenting auctions, scrounging broken dishes from neighbors, and sifting through the public dump.
Isador's trash-rummaging habit earned him the nickname Picassiette (scrounger/scavenger), and it logically followed that his mosaic handiwork was called pique-assiette. The label has remained permanently associated with the art form since 1938.
While the splendor of Guernsey’s Little Chapel is captivating, its true beauty shines when it is concurrently viewed from its historical perspective. The tale involves a timely mix of events in the lives of a beloved French saint, a shy snuff-sniffing monk, a rotund English bishop, and an exiled fraternity of bullying monastics. Oh, and of course, a herd of doe-eyed Guernsey milk cows.
On July 3, 1905, France made legislative history when its Chamber of Deputies passed the French Law on the Separation of Churches and State. This law dealt a devastating blow to public education, which the Catholic churches provided to the masses. Almost 10,000 church-affiliated schools were forced to close their doors, and thousands of priests and nuns left France.
One group, The Saint Jean Baptiste de La Salle’s Brothers of the Christian Schools shut down 1,851 schools throughout France. Some of the de La Salle Brothers fled to Guernsey, Channel Islands, to continue their commitment to providing boys with a quality education. The monks purchased a rural property in Les Vauxbelets Valley, centrally located in Guernsey’s only landlocked parish. Hardworking and dedicated, they immediately began building their self-sustaining agricultural college.
In December 1913, Brother Antoine Deodat, a de La Salle monk from Nantes, joined the exiled group at the Guernsey monastery. On his arrival, Deodat, age 35, was described by his superiors as a “shy, timid and anxious man with a consumptive nature [respiratory problems from TB] and a big nose.” Obviously, the brothers did not mince words! I wonder how they described a man they did not like! Some claim that Deodat had a super-sized-schnoz because he was a chronic snuff-sniffer.
While Deodat’s French superiors were quick to focus on his reserved nature, his health struggles, and his alleged oversized beak, they overlooked his keen eye for design and artistic creativity.
Brother Antoine Deodat made the following entry in his personal journal shortly after his arrival from France:
“I arrived in Guernsey for the first time in 1913. From the very start, my attention was attracted by the copse[dense thicket of trees] facing southwest across the Vauxbelets valley. The trees were lofty and majestic and the slopes were pretty steep towards the stream. At once the thought came to my mind that the spot was eminently suitable for the erection of a grotto resembling that at Lourdes** with a little Chapel to represent the Basilica at that same famous pilgrimage. I ventured to expose my plans to the Brother Director and he granted me a space in the woods where I could put my project into execution. Overjoyed I started work at once in March 1914”
** See the Expect the Unexpected Substack posting for April 5, 2024: Bernadette: From Dungeon to Fame.
**The story of Little Chapel starts with Bernadette Soubirous’ visions of the “Immaculate Conception” at the Massabielle Grotto. The Grotto is in the Basilica in Lourdes, France; and Little Chapel is inspired by the Basilica.
Deodat’s first version of Little Chapel measured 9 feet by 4.5 feet and was fashioned after the Massabielle Grotto in Lourdes.
Deodat became so frustrated and discouraged by the barrage of criticism his LaSalle brothers dumped on him concerning the tiny size of his chapel that he DEMOLISHED the CHAPEL within hours of completing the project. Evidently, Deodat’s band of brothers got their kicks out of bullying him.
However, tenacity was another attribute his French superiors failed to acknowledge. The very next day, he went right back to work and started building a slightly larger version of the chapel. Despite encountering supply shortages caused by the outbreak of WWI, the construction of Deodat’s second version of Little Chapel was completed in July 1914. The new chapel measured 9 feet by 4.5 feet and could accommodate four people.
The new Little Chapel served the de La Salle Christian Brothers for nine years, until 1923 when a BIG PROBLEM knocked at their door!
His name was William Timothy Carter, The Bishop of Portsmouth. When the beefy Bishop visited Deodat’s miniature chapel, he could not squeeze his massive bulk through the door! He became so indignant that he forbade Little Chapel to be used for Holy Mass. The portly Bishop of Portsmouth returned to England with a snarly attitude.
Déodat knew the routine, so he tore down the second chapel and went to the drawing board on the third Little Chapel, which would measure 16 feet by 9 feet and accommodate eight people.
Deodat chose to decorate his third Little Chapel with pique-assiette for reasons known only to him. However, true to the nature of the design, it is widely recognized that the shy artist was forced to scrounge for broken porcelain, pottery, and shells. The local residents of Guernsey contributed generously. After an article in Britain’s Daily Mirror brought awareness to Little Chapel, Deodat received supply donations from around the world to complete his project.
Brother Déodat Antoine’s work on his magnificent Little Chapel was almost complete when, in 1939, health problems forced him to abandon his project and return to Nantes, France, to convalesce.
Between the constraints of WW II, the German Occupation of the Channel Islands, and his compromised health, Brother Antoine Deodat never returned to Guernsey to see the final result of the 25 years of dedicated and loving work he devoted to creating his beautiful Little Chapel. The finishing touches on Little Chapel were completed by his close friend and helper, de La Salle monk Brother Cephas.
Brother Antoine Deodat—civilian name, Antoine Treilhaud—died in Nantes, in the Loire Valley area of France, on November 21, 1951, at the age of 73. His good friend, Brother Cephas, continued to take care of the maintenance and repairs of Little Chapel until he retired in 1965.
After 1965, Little Chapel gradually deteriorated, showing exponentially more signs of disrepair with each passing year. By 2015, action had to be taken to stop its crumbling and dilapidation, or the historic icon would be lost forever. In response to the pressing need, the Little Chapel Foundation was formed, funds were raised, and a £500,000 restoration project was initiated. After a year of closure, the repairs were completed, and Little Chapel reopened.
Since 2017 The Little Chapel Foundation has assumed the responsibility for oversight of Brother Antoine Deodat’s famous ecclesiastical icon. Little Chapel celebrated its 100th Anniversary in May 2023 with a dedication ceremony to Brother Antoine Deodat in recognition of all his hard work and devoted time. Dr. Paluch, a local leader captured the essence of the story of Brother Antoin Deodat and Little Chapel beautifully:
‘The chapel is what people want it to be. I once described it as a work of art and a labour of love. It’s both these things and so much more. It’s the embodiment of one shy man’s deep devotion to Mary and a very personal, yet very public expression of his faith. Now that the De La Salle Brothers have left the island, we hope it will be a permanent reminder of their long association with the people of Guernsey and the selfless contribution they made not only to education but also to the spiritual life of the island.’
Guernsey, Channel Islands is a treasure to visit. And Little Chapel is the treasure of Guernsey.
What a beautiful beautiful chapel and story. Loved it!
This quirky place is really interesting. What a tribute to tenacity! Sad to hear about Brother Déodat being bullied within a band of religious brethren; but that's another example of the foibles of human nature, I suppose. Good to learn about the "pique-assiette" decorative style.