Lavabo
Unknown Artist
1400s
Medium
brass
Dimensions
36.9 × 46.4 cm · diam. 23.8 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
Accession Number
1965.22
About this artwork
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 hun...