Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • The Collection
  • Projects & Publications
  • Past Exhibitions

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Image

Previous 1 2 3 / 3 Next

French

Pyx, 1200s

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

French

Title

Pyx

Year

1200s

Medium

Enamel and copper with gilding

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • champleve enamel,
  • copper,
  • gilding,
  • gilded

Dimensions

Height: 8.9 cm (3 1/2 inches)

Type

  • Metalwork

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

30.011

About

This hinged, covered container (pyx) was designed to hold consecrated communion wafers. In the 13th century it would have been carried when administering the sacrament of Holy Communion to the sick, or used to store wafers that remained unconsumed at the conclusion of the Mass. The liturgical use of this vessel is indicated by the finial in the shape of a Latin cross on the lid, and by the repeated motif of red crosses inscribed in quatrefoils on the surface. This type of decoration was accomplished by incising a depression in the metal ground of the object, then filling it with powdered enamel, which was then fired to form a hard, brilliant pool of color.

[]

Projects & Publications

Publications

Transformations of the Court Style

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Transformations of the Court Style

February 2-27, 1977

European Galleries

The pyx was a container used to carry consecrated wafers to the sick or to those otherwise unable to come to church. This vessel’s brilliant enamel design was created using champlevé (raised field). In this technique, depressions are created in the metal ground. These cells or fields are then filled with powdered glass and the work is fired. To indicate the nature of the vessel, the Latin cross was employed for the finial form and in the quatrefoil pattern.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Pyx with the accession number of 30.011. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use