Bowl of a Drinking Cup

Unknown

late 12th century · Silver, silver gilt, and niello · The Cloisters

With its lively nude male figures and dragons entwined in foliage, this bowl was likely a part of a secular drinking cup rather than a ciborium (a vessel that holds the Host) or a chalice for use in the Mass, as was once thought. Between the principal compartments inhabited by the nude figures and dragons are smaller areas with basilisks. The heads of the men and beasts are in high relief, and the bands between the compartments and the palmette frieze below the rim are crisply rendered. The decoration of the bowl has parallels in twelfth-century English art, but similar pieces have also been found in Sweden. This example was discovered near the Ob' River in Siberia, an indication of how objects in Middle Ages sometimes circulated far from their place of manufacture.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 12th century

Medium

Silver, silver gilt, and niello

Culture

British or Scandinavian

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 1947