The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Lion Aquamanile

Lion Aquamanile

1200–1250
bronze: cast, chased, and punched
Overall: 26.4 x 29 x 15 cm (10 3/8 x 11 7/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Chester D. Tripp in honor of Chester D. Tripp 1972.167
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The handle of this vessel is in the shape of a dragon with a long curving tail.

Description

An aquamanile is a water vessel used for washing hands both at church altars and at the dinner tables of upper-class patrons. They often took the form of fantastic beasts such as dragons and unicorns or animals such as horses, birds, dogs, and lions, like this one.
  • 1919-1966
    Josephus Jitta, Heiloo, The Netherlands
    1966-1972
    (Hermann Schwartz, Ginsterweg, Germany, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art).
    1972-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • May, Helmut. Weltkunst aus Privatbesitz. Köln: Gesamtherstellung: Druckerei J.P. Bachem, 1968. cat. no. D24, abb. 12
    Swarzenski, Hanns, Peter Bloch, Tilmann Buddensieg, Alfred Hentzen, and Theodor Müller. Intuition und Kunstwissenschaft: Festschrift für Hanns Swarzenski zum 70. Geburtstag am 30. August 1973. 1973. pp. 253-260
    Wixom, William D., Donald F. Gibbons, and Katherine C. Ruhl. "A Lion Aquamanile." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art61, no. 8 (1974) pp. 260-269 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 57 archive.org
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 20; Mentioned: p. 21, p. 61
    De Winter, Patrick M. "The Sacral Treasure of the Guelphs." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 1 (1985) pp. 113-114, no. 83, pl. XXI. www.jstor.org
    Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. p. 136, repr. p. 137, no. 46
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 147, cat. no. 50
    Hovaguimian, Vroni. Images and Words. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. Reproduced: p. 101
    Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p. 126-129; Reproduced: p. 127
    Mikolic, Amanda. The Art of Handwashing. The Cleveland Museum of Art The Thinker Blog on Medium. April 10, 2020. medium.com
    Mende, Ursula, Michael Brandt, Claudia Höhl, and Lothar Lambacher. Gusswerke: Beiträge zur Bronzekunst des Mittelalters, Regensburg : Schnell + Steiner, 2020, 408 Mentioned: p. 408
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    The Age of Bronze, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 17, 1982).
    A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Lion Aquamanile|url=false|author=|year=1200–1250|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.167