Lot 1844 Dα

North German 13th century

A 13th century North German aquamanile formed as a lion.

Cast bronze with engraved, embossed and gilt decor. This fine aquamanile was formerly part of the collection of Bourgeois Frères in Cologne. It can be identified in a photograph in the catalogue accompanying the auction of this sale in 1904, and was dated to the 14th century by the catalogue editor Otto von Falke. The authenticity of this medieval work was confirmed via material analysis in 1998, although the lid in the lion’s head appears to have been replaced in the 19th century. In Falke’s seminal work on medieval vessels (Falke/Meyer 1935, op. cit.) he compares the piece to an aquamanile in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, describing both as “North German 13th century”. However, the whereabouts of this piece from the Bourgeois Frères collection was apparently unknown to him at the time of writing, and he confused the piece with a very similar vessel in the Historisches Museum in Lund (inv. no 20675) which had entered the museum from ecclesiastical ownership in 1919 and which Falke only knew from an illustration (in Rydbeck 1921
With minimal wear. Height 25 cm, length 23 cm.