Ablution basin – Dictionary of Silverware

Ablution basin. A type of basin for holding water intended: (1) in ecclesiastical usage, for rinsing the hands or some object of church plate, such as a chalice; or (2) in secular usage, for rinsing the fingers at the dinner table (sometimes called a rose-water basin). Its founder donated two ecclesiastical ablution basins in 1515-16 to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Bishop Richard Fox.

Ecclesiastical Use of Basins

Three silver basins with prickets for serges or large wax candles and latten basins within to catch the droppings were typically hung from silver chains and placed in front of the high altar and above the steps leading up to it. These tapers burned continuously, day and night, as a sign that the house constantly kept an eye on God.

The cruets and ewers used for the priest’s finger washing were carried in basins. The decoration was typically heraldic in nature rather than religious, and the material was occasionally enamelled copper or silver gilt. The 13th-century genmellions at Conques, one used as an ewer and the other as a jug, are two enamelled basins. Additionally, there was a big alms basin, typically double-gilded, used on major holidays, and a smaller, lesser-valued one for everyday occasions. St. Margaret’s Church in Westminster has intact alms basins made in Flemish and later. (Basins, Ecclesiastical Use Of, 2023)

Sources

Basins, Ecclesiastical Use of. (2023). McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/B/basins-ecclesiastical-use-of.html

Kidd, P. (2017, January 19). Bishop Richard Fox’s Ablution Basin. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from http://500yearsoftreasures.blogspot.com/2017/01/bishop-richard-foxs-ablution-basin.html

Newman, H. (2000). An illustrated dictionary of silverware: 2,373 entries relating to British and North American wares, decorative techniques and styles, and leading designers and makers, principally from c.1500 to the present. Thames & Hudson.

Additional Reading – Silverware

Dolan, M. (1993). 1830s-1990’s American Sterling Silver Flatware: A Collector’s Identification & Value Guide. United States: Books Americana. https://amzn.to/3mYhbWW

Haslam, M., & Haslam, M. (1995). Marks & Monograms: The Decorative Arts, 1880-1960. Collins & Brown.

Helliwell, S. (1988). Collecting Small Silverware. United Kingdom: Phaidon-Christie’s. https://amzn.to/3TnVSdA

Krekel-Aalberse, A. (1989). Art Nouveau and Art Deco silver. Abrams.

Langford, J. (1998). Silver: A Practical Guide to Collecting Silverware and Identifying Hallmarks. Australia: Sandstone Books. https://amzn.to/3LytDqD

Newman, H. (1987). An illustrated dictionary of silverware: 2,373 entries relating to British and North American wares, decorative techniques and styles, and leading designers and makers, principally from c.1500 to the present. United Kingdom: Thames and Hudson. https://amzn.to/40jlY3p

Rainwater, D. T., Fuller, M., & Fuller, C. (2004). Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers. Schiffer Pub.

Rinker, H. L. (1997). Silverware of the 20th Century: The Top 250 Patterns. United States: House of Collectibles. https://amzn.to/3JLVUsu

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