Aquamanile

Religious organizations widely used aquamanilia in the Middle Ages in Church settings, where they served as vesicles for water for ceremonies that involved hand-washing (Barnet, 2009). As a result, these aquamanilia often had forms that were important to the Church, and artisans designed them with materials that made their day to day use practical, such as long-lasting metals. However, over time, these tools actually got incorporated into the homes of the European nobility, as individuals used them to represent the religious ideals that were central to their society, while also taking on forms that were important to their status. For example, the aquamanile in Figure 1 has the form of a lion, which is a very common form, and relates to the association of lions with rulers (Barnet 2009). Other notable forms include the knight, which is perhaps the most direct representation of the ideas of the nobility and aristocracy for the members of the upper class. These objects were likely used largely for symbolic purposes and as a means to entertain guests at the dinner table (Barnet 2009).

While this object embodies a form that is very specific to Europe, in fact, these objects largely came from East, which makes them a prime example of the movement of ideas from the East to the West. The second object you see is a rare surviving aquamanile from medieval Iran, from several hundred years before the European aquamanile. In particular, in this aquamanile, you can see that the figure is very different, and does not embody an animal which is considered particularly important for the European nobility. However, the materials used and metalworking techniques are very similar, as they use the lost-wax casting method to create the object (Williamson 2006, pg 3). These figures from the Islamic world are particularly rare because of the general aversion to images of living animals in Islamic culture, called aniconism, as well as the fact that the objects from the Islamic world are much older than the European ones (Grabar, 2003, pg 47).

Along with the metal based aquamanilia, in Europe, a wholly new form of aquamanilia formed that were pottery-based (Cumberpatch 2006). These objects were thought to have been used primarily in the home, rather than the church, because they were much more fragile than the metal based ones. Thus, they were likely used largely for the decorative purpose, rather than as an actual tool for hand washing. However, since these were pottery-based, most of them did not survive to the modern day, unlike their metal-based contemporaries. Here, you can see a rare example of a surviving pottery-based aquamanile from medieval Europe.