Nancy Pelosi gives pottery made by Vermont artist to Pope Francis

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave Pope Francis a “peace bowl” this month that was made by a Vermont artist.

Miranda Thomas, of Bridgewater, made the porcelain bowl that the California Democrat gave to the pope Oct. 9 during an official visit to The Vatican. According to a news release from ShackletonThomas, the artist’s studio, the gift features Thomas’ “signature designs, hand-painted with a 22-karat gold luster on a sapphire-blue glaze. Inside the bowl, a traditional symbol of peace — the dove — can be seen flying through the scroll of life — an ancient ceramics pattern representing the ebbs and flows of life.”

According to the news release, Pelosi read to the pope an inscription she had written on the bowl with a gold pen: “With respect and love, please pray for us.”

“Since ancient times the dove carrying the olive branch has been a symbol that God forgives and makes peace with man,” Thomas said in the news release. “The dove is serious in its labors and responsibilities as it carries its offering. It is the herald of renewed life on the earth.”

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This is the second work by Thomas given to a pope, according to ShackletonThomas. In 1999, President Bill Clinton commissioned one of her peace bowls as a gift for Pope John Paul II. President Barack Obama and the United Nations have also given Thomas’ bowls to dignitaries, according to ShackletonThomas. Thomas’ husband, Charles Shackleton, is a furniture maker with whom she owns ShackletonThomas, according to her website.

On her website, Pelosi spoke of her “gratitude” to Pope Francis for his work to combat climate change and “lifting up those who have been left out or left behind, especially in the time of COVID.”

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“In San Francisco, we take special pride in Pope Francis, who shares the namesake of our city and whose song of St. Francis is our anthem,” according to Pelosi’s website. “‘Lord, make me a channel of thy peace. Where there is darkness, may we bring light. Where there is hatred, may we bring love. Where there is despair, may we bring hope.’”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.