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
Rights
Public Domain
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...