A Tower Ciborium

Neo-gothic
First quarter of the 20th Century, ca. 1919

Gilded silver and metal, various marks on cuppa and cover, with crystal cabochons and ‘émail champlevé’, engraving with date ‘1894-1919’ in rim of the base
H. 54 cm.

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Maastricht, The Netherlands

REFERENCE LITERATURE
Jansen, A. (1979). ‘Rijk aan glans en goud, de kerkelijke edeldmeedkunst.’ in: Naar Gotieken Kunstzin. Den Bosch: Noordbrabants Museum, pp. 83-85


This imposing ciborium, a covered container used to store and distribute the consecrated hosts after the Eucharist, was donated to a congregation for a 25 year anniversary. In the large gothic tower on the cover a figure of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) the founder the Order of the Society of Jesus is placed, indication a use within a Jesuit congregation. The neo-gothic movement was translated into silver work between 1840 and 1850. It reached its peak after 1870 and was highly popular until the start of the 20th Century, when it was replaced by modern styles after the 1920s. The present piece is a very fine late example of this artistic movement.