The Ewer of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune is a gold reliquary likely of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

origin found in the treasury of the monastery at

Saint-Maurice d'Agaune The Abbey of Saint Maurice, Agaunum (french: Abbaye de Saint-Maurice d'Agaune or ''Saint-Maurice-en-Valais'') is a Swiss monastery of canons regular in Saint-Maurice, Canton of Valais, which dates from the 6th century. It is situated against a ...

. Speculation has surrounded its origination and date of creation. The enameled

ewer In American English, a pitcher is a container with a spout used for storing and pouring liquids. In English-speaking countries outside North America, a jug is any container with a handle and a mouth and spout for liquid – American "pitchers" wi ...

is one of the many treasures found at the Saint-Maurice d'Agaune monastery. The origins of the piece were said to have been seventh century, but until more recently, in 2008, it is argued to have been from the fifth or early sixth century due to the application of the cloisonné.

Description

The Ewer is 30.3 cm high with a long neck and two rounded discs forming the body. The motifs centralized on the body of the ewer are, on one disk, two eagle-headed

griffins The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, and on the other disk, two lions encompassing a

lotus tree The lotus tree ( grc-gre, λωτός, ''lōtós'') is a plant that is referred to in stories from Greek and Roman mythology. The lotus tree is mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as bearing a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness, and which was sa ...

. The tall neck also has two enamel rectangular pieces with detailed design work. The intricate

cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...

work utilizes irregular shaped sapphires, and other deep enamel of emerald green, pearl white, and dark blue. The colored gemstones were understood primarily as symbolic representations of the cycle of the seasons in the Byzantine period - green for spring, blue for winter, red for summer, and white for autumn, which is also attributed to a similar vase found at Saint-Maurice d'Agaune.

Origin

The date and origination of the ewer has been highly debated among art historians and students. This debate includes belief that it originated from Islamic, Carolingian, or

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

origins. Although some of the imagery of the ewer could allude to a multitude of origins, the griffin disk enamel work tie this piece to the Byzantine period. Previous to 2008, it was presumed to have been a piece from the seventh century, but in the late fifth century stylistic changes moved from plain foil beneath the gemstone inlay to a decorative style that remained popular from the late fifth century and after. Instead of utilizing the popular decorative foil used predominately after the late fifth century, it has the plain foil style relevant to earlier fifth century work.

References

{{Reflist Christian reliquaries Byzantine art