id: 144625 accession number: 1969.26 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.26 updated: 2023-04-08 11:20:09.790000 Aquamanile: Saddled Horse, c. 1250–1300. North Germany, Lower Saxony (?), 14th century. Copper alloy; overall: 23.1 x 22.4 cm (9 1/8 x 8 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1969.26 title: Aquamanile: Saddled Horse title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1250–1300 creation date earliest: 1245 creation date latest: 1305 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: North Germany, Lower Saxony (?), 14th century technique: copper alloy department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Gothic type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 23.1 x 22.4 cm (9 1/8 x 8 13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1969 opening date: 1970-01-27T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970). title: Myth and Mystique: Cleveland's Gothic Table Fountain opening date: 2016-10-09T00:00:00 Myth and Mystique: Cleveland's Gothic Table Fountain. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 9, 2016-February 26, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Castiglione, Vienna, purchased by Mrs. C. Porter Wilson date: footnotes: citations: Mrs. C. Porter Wilson, New York, NY date: ?-1968 footnotes: citations: (Parke-Bernet, 25 October 1968, lot 112a) date: 1968 footnotes: citations: (Blumka Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: 1968-1969 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1969- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The pattern of crosshatched circles on the surface suggests that the horse is a dappled gray warhorse, a prized possession in the period. digital description: wall description: Aquamanilia, from the Latin aqua meaning water and manus meaning hands, were hollow cast vessels used for hand washing. Although originally intended for liturgical use they became a common sight in the homes of the nobility in the 1200s and 1300s. Often filled with scented water, these vessels were used to wash hands just before and after eating a meal. An accompanying catch basin would have caught the water as it was being poured. Here we see a proud and alert dappled gray warhorse, highly prized in the medieval period. The saddled but riderless form is rare; other popular aquamanilia include lions, dragons, griffins, and human heads. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Parke-Bernet Galleries. Italian Maiolica & Works of Art. New York: The Galleries, 1968. page number: lot 112a url: Wixom, William D. "A Lion Aquamanile" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 61, No. 8 (October 1974). page number: p. 260-270 url: Wixom, William D. Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections: [Exhibition]. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975. page number: p. 5-6 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 60 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n80 Fliegel, Stephen N., and Elina Gertsman. Myth and Mystique: Cleveland's Gothic Table Fountain. 2016. page number: p. 136-139 url: Mikolic, Amanda. The Art of Handwashing. The Cleveland Museum of Art The Thinker Blog on Medium. April 10, 2020. page number: url: https://medium.com/cma-thinker/the-art-of-handwashing-515bf9ea5343 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.26/1969.26_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.26/1969.26_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.26/1969.26_full.tif