{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O108730"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108730/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AK9922/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AK9922/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AK9922","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AE8858","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LY9376","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O108730/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O108730","accessionNumber":"273&:1-1879","objectType":"Pyx","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This object would have been used for Catholic worship. A pyx is a container for the Sacred Host, bread which has been consecrated by a priest during the service of Mass and, in Catholic belief, miraculously transformed into the body of Christ. This central ceremony of the Catholic church is a re-enactment of the Last Supper, in which Christ shared bread and wine with his disciples, saying ‘This is my body and blood’. \r\n\r\nThe decoration of arabesque ornament (pointed leaves derived from Near Eastern art) and strapwork (interlaced bands or straps) has been engraved. The goldsmith has removed metal from the surface of the object using a burin, a sharply pointed engraving tool.","physicalDescription":"Small cylindrical box engraved with arabesque ornament and strapwork, the removeable domed lid supporting a crucifix.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"engraving","id":"AAT53829"},{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver, engraved, with cast elements","categories":[{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006AK9922","2006AE8858","2019LY9376"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"84","id":"THES49710"},"free":"","case":"CA6B","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"84","id":"THES49710"},"free":"","case":"CA6B","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"pyx","id":""}],[{"text":"Lid","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Spain","id":"x29170"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1600-1630","earliest":"1595-01-01","latest":"1630-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"19.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"12","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Unmarked","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Only one other pyx similar to this one survives, now in the Hernández-Mora Zapata Collection, Madrid (see Cruz Valdovinos: 2007, cat. no. 21). The ornament on both pieces is engraved, with areas of matting, and lightly-punched dots at intervals along the areas of strapwork. The ornament on both pieces varies slightly from lid to base, but is different on both pyxes. The V&A pyx is decorated with flowers and foliage woven among strapwork, and appears to be a simplified version of designs labelled 'moresque' which circulated in pattern books across Europe from the mid-sixteenth-century (see for example Geminus: 1548). The profile of the lid is also different for both pyxes. The pyx in the Hernández-Mora Zapata collection is only slightly smaller, with a diameter at rim and base of 11.1 cm, and a height of 17 cm. In his catalogue entry, Cruz Valdovinos tentatively attributes the pyx in Madrid to a workshop in León (northern Spain), on the basis of similarities it shares with the form of other pyxes produced in late-sixteenth-century northern Spanish workshops (compare for example a footed pyx with a crucifix knop made in a Castilian workshop around 1576-1600, now in the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid, inventory no. CE00566).","historicalContext":"The Spanish Church\r\nThe Catholic church dominated public and private life in Spain. Money and labour were lavished on religious art and images played a central role in daily worship. To ensure that goldsmiths focused on work for the crown and the church, the authorities brought in a series of sumptuary laws that limited the secular display of gems and precious metals. \r\n\r\nBy 1550 the silver mines in Peru and Mexico were generating enormous wealth for Spain and feeding the traditional taste for massive silver forms. They included the custodia, a towering architectural canopy that was unique to Spain. It was paraded through parishes during the Corpus Christi festival to display the Sacred Host (consecrated bread). The custodia embodied many characteristics of Spanish church plate. It was sculptural, highly visible and richly imaginative in design. \r\n\r\nWith the Counter Reformation, Spain became a triumphant defender of a revitalised Catholic faith. Silver altar vessels and entire altars, processional crosses, custodias and sanctuary lamps frequently appeared in goldsmiths’ contracts.","briefDescription":"Silver, Spain (possibly León), 1580-1610","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Oman, Charles. <u>The Golden Age of Hispanic Silver: 1400-1665</u>. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Cruz Valdovinos, José Manuel. <u>El Arte de la Plata: Colección Hernández-Mora Zapata</u>. Catalogue of an exhibition held in the Centro Cultural Las Claras. Fundación Cajamurcia, Murcia, Spain, 29 November 2006 - 3 January 2007. Murcia: Fundación Cajamurcia, 2006. ISBN 849572653X"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Geminus, Thomas. <u>Morysse & Damashin renewed & increased, very profitable for Goldsmythes & Embroderars</u>. London: 1548."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Benito, Javier Alonso. 'Pyx'. Online catalogue entry, Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid. \nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20221208152454/http://ceres.mcu.es/pages/Main"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Pyx\r\nA pyx (from the Greek for ‘box’) was used in Roman Catholic worship to contain the Sacred Host, the consecrated bread or wafer used in the Mass. It was often kept in a receptacle called a tabernacle, sometimes set into the altar. Small, portable pyxes were used for visiting the sick at home. \r\n\r\nThis pyx comes from Spain, where the churches were richly decorated with elaborate silverware to affirm the power and splendour of the Roman Catholic faith. \r\n\r\nSpain, about 1600–30\r\nSilver\r\nMuseum no. 273-1879","date":{"text":"22/11/2005","earliest":"2005-11-22","latest":"2005-11-22"}}],"partNumbers":["273:1-1879","273-1879"],"accessionNumberNum":"273","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1879,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Lid","pyx"],"assets":["2016HY9495","2016JG6294","2016JJ6788"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-14","recordCreationDate":"2005-01-25","availableToBook":false}}