Aquamanile in the Form of a Soldier on Horseback
Unknown
early 15th century · Copper alloy · The Cloisters
This elaborate water vessel was intended for handwashing. A specialty of metalworkers in German-speaking lands for centuries—from the twelfth to the fifteenth—they are called aquamanilia, from the Latin words for water (aqua) and hand (manus). A clue to the date of this figure is the rider’s helmet, a type without visor that came into fashion in northern Italy around 1410.
- Artist
- Unknown
- Date
- early 15th century
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Culture
- German
- Department
- The Cloisters
- Credit line
- The Cloisters Collection, 1947
