01 Lion Aquamanile

LION AQUAMANILE

Germany, Hildesheim Circa 1250

Two modern inscriptions in ink: ‘1909 ER’ and ‘J. v S.G.’

Copper alloy, direct lost-wax casting Height: 27 cm, length: 27 cm

Provenance: Private Collection, Germany, Bonn (by tradition in the family long before 1930).

Related Literature: Olchawa, Joanna. Aquamanilien. Genese, Verbreitung und Bedeutung in islamischen und christlichen Zeremonien, Regensburg 2019.

Knüvener, Peter (ed.). Mittelalterliche Kunst aus Berlin und Brandenburg, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Berlin 2011.

Brandt, Michael (ed.). Bild und Bestie. Hildesheimer Bronzen der Stauferzeit, exh. cat., Dom-Museum Hildesheim, Regensburg 2008.

Bloch, Peter. Aquamanilien. Mittelalterliche Bronzen für sakralen und profanen Gebrauch, Milan 1981.

Falke, Otto von and Meyer, Erich. Romanische Leuchter und Gefäße. Gießgefäße der Gotik (Bronzegeräte des Mittelalters, vol. l), Berlin 1935. This aquamanile in the form of a lion was made in Hildesheim around 1250. The long-legged animal’s body is highly stylised. Its head and alert eyes take in the surroundings. The thick mane is executed in voluminous, carefully arranged sections in relief over the animal’s body like a natural ornamental decoration. The delicate chasing is a naturalistic imitation of the mane’s structure. The lion’s face is depicted very precisely; the eyes, drawn down to the sides, look upwards and are expressively modelled. Finely chased, hatched lines and dots accentuate the eyebrows and the lines between the mouth and cheeks. Further strands of the mane are suggested in relief between the upright, perforated ears. The mouth is open and reveals two rows of teeth. The triangular shape of those immediately next to the spout, that appear to be holding onto it firmly, evoke fangs. The opening for filling the vessel is between the ears; the lid is missing. A dragon stretches the length of the lion’s back and serves as a handle. It supports itself with two of its legs at the back of the lion’s head and holds onto the mane with its mouth. The body of this mythical creature merges with the lion’s flat tail that arches upwards.

The origin of such exquisite ewers, luxury objects, cast using the lost wax technique, is to be found in the Orient. They arrived in Europe as a result of the crusades and the spread of the Byzantine culture. Aquamaniles executed in bronze soon became firm favourites among Romanesque sculpted objects in the Holy Roman Empire.

They were used for washing hands as part of a liturgical ritual, as well as at mealtimes in a secular context. The lion was the most sought-after motif. Griffins, horses and equestrian figures were also popular subjects. Less than 150 lion aquamaniles are known to have survived to this day. Aquamaniles had their heyday between the early 12th and the late 16th centuries. As in the Orient, the lion – the most majestic of animals – also has positive connotations in the western world. A certain identification between the user and the characteristics of the animal, such as strength, courage and generosity, was intended. Also in heraldry a real fashion for lions emerged at this time and the lion was a symbolic embodiment of the ideal characteristics of a courtly person.

The ‘Brunswick Lion’, a statue in Braunschweig, Germany, was an important model both for the stylised lion of aquamaniles and for the art of casting in the 12th century. The large statue, commissioned by Henry the Lion in 1166 as a symbol of his epithet, represents the largest figurative cast made using the lost wax technique after Antiquity. In scholarship a differentiation between religious and secular objects, that is often not immediately clear, is made based on the motifs used. How, however, is this to be seen in the case of the lion which is equally compatible with chivalric, worldly motifs? Christian iconography is familiar with the depiction of Christ in the Psalms where, in Psalms 91:13, it is written: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”

The lion aquamanile with the dragon handle can also be seen as a symbol of the powers of the antichrist and devil overcome by Jesus and could, therefore, have been used within a liturgical context, too.1

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Fig. 1. Lion Aquamanile in the Swedish History Museum, inv. no. 4409, height: 26 cm, length: 25.5 cm, Hildesheim Workshop, first half of 13th century

1 Cf. Bloch, op. cit., p. 3

Joanna Olchawa, the author of a very extensive expertise2 about this lion aquamanile, designates a very similar lion aquamanile, belonging to the collection of the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm (fig. 1). “Here, the head with its snub nose is also clearly separated from the mane collar. The finely engraved tufts of hair and that on the three-part tail of the dragon on the handle are particularly noticeable and may possibly have been added at a later date.”3

Olchawa also writes: “The aquamanile is without doubt a medieval object created in the Hildesheim workshops around the middle of the 13th century. The date and place of production can be definitively established through the comparison with ten other lion aquamaniles and a lion candelabra. … For these reasons, the object holds an important position in art-historical research with regard to understanding the development of shapes and models.“4 The provenance of the object is difficult to determine despite the two inscriptions in ink on the body of the figure (‘1909 ER’ and ‘J. v S. G’). The latter can be identified beyond doubt as that of the art trading company Julius and Selig Goldschmidt, Frankfurt am Main (later with branches in Berlin, Paris and New York) that was active in the 19th century. Around 1868, the company sold an aquamanile from the Middle Ages from the collection of Friedrich Hahn from Hanover. The person or collection for whom the possible initials ‘ER’ stand, cannot be determined.

“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”

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2 Expertise Joanna Olchawa, Frankfurt, 2019 3 Ibid., p. 4 4 Ibid., p. 6

Mirror Case

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MIRROR CASE

France (Paris?) Circa 1310–1320

Ivory Height: 10 cm, width: 9.5 cm

Provenance: Collection Charles Gillot (1853–1903), Paris; By descent until 2008.

Literature: Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques français, Paris 1924, vol. II, cat. no. 1012, pp. 372/373.

Related Literature: Gaborin-Chopin, Danielle. Ivoires médiévaux Ve –XVe siècle, Musée du Louvre, Départment des Objets d’Art, Paris, 2003, cat. no. 129, pp. 354–356.

Exhibition: Exposition rétrospective de l’art français des origines à 1800, Petit Palais, Paris, 1900, cat. no. 181. Mirror cases are exquisite treasures of the Middle Ages. The decorative pictorial fields mostly feature profane courtly scenes with courting couples, hunting or games sceneries, making a reference to the Middle Age ideal of the ‘Hohe Minne’. These objects were probably expensive presents, given to family or friends on the occasion of an engagement or a wedding.

Our mirror case also belongs to this tradition. The image area is divided into four compartments by a tree and its outgoing branches. Two smaller trees border the sides. We can see loving couples in all four areas. Clockwise: a woman who is giving a crown to her lover, followed by a young man who caresses his beloved by touching her chin. Below, a young man is kneeling in front to the woman he admires and is giving her a rose taken from the rose tree, while she is making a flower wreath. Next to that scene, a couple plays chess at a table. Four mythological creatures decorate the object’s outer edges.

The high quality carving of the faces and clothes suggests that the mirror case had been made in a Paris workshop circa 1310–1320. There are two comparable mirror cases with courtly scenes in the Louvre in Paris (fig. 1)1, also dated circa 1310–1320, and one in the Musée de Cluny (fig. 2).

Raymond Koechlin cites only ten mirror cases with four divided decorated areas.2 Danielle Gaborit-Chopin completes this group by another four works. 3 The scene of loving couples playing chess is a very rare one.

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1 Gaborin-Chopin, op. cit., no. 129, p. 354 ff 2 Koechlin, op. cit., vol. II, p. 382, cat. no. 1007–1015 3 Gaborin-Chopin, op. cit., p. 356

Mirror cases are always made of two round disks, often with creeping mythological creatures positioned on the edges. On the inner side, the border was often embossed with edge banding at the same time so that the mirror could be inserted. Mirrors were probably made of polished metal or glass with pleated lead on the back. To open the mirror case, both sides of it would have to be rotated in opposite directions and would click when closed. Today, almost no complete mirror cases are preserved.

Fig. 1. Two Mirror Cases: Courtly Scenes, Paris, circa 1310–1320, ivory, Musée du Louvre, Paris, formerly Collection Révoil, inv. no. MRR 197

Fig. 2. Mirror Case, Amor and two Couples, Paris, 14th century, ivory, Musée de Cluny – Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris, inv. no. CL9191

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