Lavabo (1400s): Art, History and Details

Lavabo (1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In the Middle Ages a variety of vessels were used for hand washing. This brass container, called a lavabo, was designed to hold a large quantity of water and may have functioned in either a domestic or a liturgical setting. Its large capacity and relatively simple decoration suggests it served a communal function, either in a private home or perhaps in a monastery where it would have served as a hand-washing station near the refectory. In private homes, lavabos of similar design were usually hung from a chain or a trammel hook over or near the fire in the kitchen. The ring inserted at the top of the handle would have allowed for the rotation of the vessel while it was suspended, facilitating access to the spouts for water. Seen in conjunction with other vessels displayed nearby, this object illustrates the variety of hand-washing vessels used by medieval men and women.

Object facts

• Title: Lavabo
• Date: 1400s
• Culture: South Netherlands, Valley of the Meuse, 15th century
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: brass
• Dimensions: Diameter: 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.); Overall: 36.9 x 46.4 cm (14 1/2 x 18 1/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1965.22

A detail from the museum

On either side of the handle appear two human faces while the spouts themselves are animals, perhaps lions or dogs.

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 9 (1965)
• "Twelve Additions to the Medieval Treasury." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 4 (1972)
• Wixom, William D. Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections. 1975.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.