A PRICELESS copper printing plate has been returned to the Roman Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, 230 years after first going missing.

“This was an accidental find during floor renovations at a private country house — it’s considered extraordinary for its combination of late 18th-century faith, science, and fine art,” a spokesman for the north-eastern Hradec Králové diocese, Pavel Sršeň, said. “But the second half of the copper matrix is still missing; if anyone knows anything, our bishopric would be grateful for information leading to its discovery.”

The plate is hand-engraved with a map of the diocese’s parishes, vicariates, and pilgrimage sites after reforms by the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II (1741-90). It was designed by Jan Antonín Venuto (1746-1833), a priest and painter from the city of Hradec Králové, and made by a Viennese copper-engraver, Kilian Ponheimer.

An expert in antiques forensics, Ivan Tejkl, told the Czech news agency CTK that the rediscovered plate included signatures and explanatory notes, alongside the coat of arms of the then Bishop of Hradec Králové, Jan Leopold.

Map representations of church administration were historically rare, Mr Tejkl said, and the copper engraving lines remained clear, despite being worn from printing. “Interest in Venuto’s original designs has been growing; so this is a unique piece of work and a very significant find.”

The diocese, which is celebrating its 360th anniversary, confirmed that the plate had been discovered under the floorboards of a house at Šluknovský Výběžek, and would be exhibited at the East Bohemia Museum in Hradec Králové, after conservation work.