As part of my research into medieval soap I stumbled onto
the ritual of hand washing at the table, and the use of whimsical pitchers to
pour the water to do so. As black soap is not all that visually exciting, a
beautiful medieval aquamanile reproduction would be the perfect eye candy for
my A&S displays. Except all the ones I found available were in Europe... and as shipping is worrisome, and prohibitively
expensive, I took the plunge to build my own.
An aquamanile, from the Latin words for water (aqua)
and hand (manus), is an animal- or human-shaped vessel used for washing
the hands. Medieval European examples date from the 12th C through
the 15th C and, apart from curious shapes, have two water openings,
one for pouring and one for filling, and a handle. According to the St. Thomas
Guild website, the name aquamanile for the vessel was not invented until the 19th
C.: the medieval name for the aquamanile was lavoratorium, and the bowl receiving the water was the manilia. But as most resources including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) designate these vessels as aquamanile, I
will do the same.
From Francis Seager’s School of Virtue
(1557) comes this poem to direct children to bring their parents water to wash
when clearing the table after a meal:
Then on
the table attend with all
diligénce,
It for to
void, when done have
thy parénts.
Each side
of the cloth do thou turn in ;
Folding
it up, at the higher
end begin.
A clean
towel then on the table
spread,
The towel
wanting, the cloth take
instead.
The basin
and ewer to the table then
bring,
In place
convenient, their pleasure
abiding.
When thou
shalt see them ready to wash,
The ewer
take up, and be not too
rash
In
pouring out water more than
will suffice.
Chatto, 1908
The hundreds of surviving examples show the popularity of
aquamanilia during the Middle Ages. The aquamanile was a sculptural vessel,
often cast in copper alloy using the lost-wax method, and made in many forms
like lions, griffins, horses, unicorns, stags, dragons and even men. Aquamanilia
were important items for religious hand washing rituals, but also became a
luxurious show piece at a Lords’ table. For the upper class clientele pottery aquamanilia
were available, evident by their mention in two inventories of medieval
citizens in the city of Deventer, the Netherlands (St. Thomas). Regular sets of ewers and bowls
are found in many inventories, but the aquamanile surely is the pinnacle of medieval
hand washing equipment.
The aquamanile from Castle Hoensbroek which was found in the castle moat. The figure probably represents a ram. The aquamanile is dated to the mid 14th century and decorated with green-tin glaze.
Animal shaped were not a new idea. Late Roman, early
Byzantine, and Islamic cultures had a vibrant tradition of hollow-cast vessels
in animal form. Although late Roman and early Byzantine examples were made to
contain oil rather than water, they could be seen as precursors of medieval aquamanila
in how they were made, as well as in the use of animal forms. Islamic aquamanilia
could have been among the luxury items brought to the West through diplomatic
gift exchange, trading routes, or even as booty from the Crusades. Western
European metalworkers, proficient in the casting of solid objects, relearned a
set of skills that had been lost in the West since antiquity when adapting the
designs of Islamic hollow-cast vessels to create aquamanilia. (MET)
Example of a copper
alloy Dragon aquamanile from The Metropolitan
Museum, one of the
largest and most important collections of aquamanilia in the world. This dragon
aquamanile is supported by its legs in front and on the tips of its wings
behind, and has a tail that curls up into a handle. It was filled through an
opening in the tail, now missing its hinged cover. Water was poured out through
the spout formed by the hooded or cowled figure held between the dragon's
teeth. In addition to its visual power, this aquamanile is distinguished by
fine casting, visible in the carefully chased dragon's scales and other surface
details.
As is indicated by its name, aquamanilia were used by the
general populace to wash the hands. Initially aquamanilia were used in both
Christian and Jewish religious ritual, but by the 12th C the vessels
start appearing outside the church, and at the dinner table. The aquamanile
would be used in combination with a wide, shallow bowl, usually made of metal,
and sometimes of pottery, and with towels made of linen, plain white or damask,
which could be striped. (Heise 2007)
“Sometimes guest were formally conducted to an adjoining
lavatory accompanied by the music of a minstrel, but ordinarily they remained
in the hall and received from the ewer the warm water; often perfumed with
rose-leaves, thyme lavender, sage, chamomile, marjoram or orange peel, one or
all. The water and the towels were, of course, presented in the order of social
standing of the guest, and it was esteemed a signal honor thus to serve a king
or a great noble. In accord with the dignity of the ceremony the water jug and
the basin in great houses were often of gold or silver curiously wrought and
enameled.”
Edward Mead in his The
English Medieval Feast, 1967. (Heise 2007)
There are several period scented water recipes available to
use with the aquamanile. For instance Sir Hugh Plat’s Delightes for Ladies lists “An
Excellent Washing Water Very Cheap” which is distilled and “Diverse sorts of sweet handwaters made
suddenly or extempore with extracted oils of spices.” which uses extracted
essential oils. Another way to make scented water would be by infusion as
suggested by Le Menagier de Paris, a
14th century cook- and housekeeping book, where a description is given for
water used to wash the hands:
“Pour faire eaue a laver mains sur table, mectez bouillir de la sauge, puis coulez l'eaue et faictes reffroidier jusques a plus que tiede. Ou vous mectez comme dessus comomille et marjolaine, ou vous mectez du romarin, et cuire avec l'escorche d'orenge. Et aussi feuilles de lorier y sont bonnes.”
“To make water for washing hands at table: Boil sage, then strain the water and cool it until it is a little more than lukewarm. Or use chamomile, marjoram or rosemary boiled with orange peel. Bay leaves are also good.” (Greco 2009)
“Pour faire eaue a laver mains sur table, mectez bouillir de la sauge, puis coulez l'eaue et faictes reffroidier jusques a plus que tiede. Ou vous mectez comme dessus comomille et marjolaine, ou vous mectez du romarin, et cuire avec l'escorche d'orenge. Et aussi feuilles de lorier y sont bonnes.”
“To make water for washing hands at table: Boil sage, then strain the water and cool it until it is a little more than lukewarm. Or use chamomile, marjoram or rosemary boiled with orange peel. Bay leaves are also good.” (Greco 2009)
The Scented Waters I made for use in the A&S Competition:
Water scented with
sage: home grown and dried sage leaves, boiled with rain water. Sage helps
in keeping skin healthy, including skin inflammations like eczema.
Water scented with
Rosemary and Orange: personally harvested
rosemary (from the Carolina’s,
where it is grown as an ornamental) and dried orange peels, boiled with rain
water. The acids in orange peels act as a natural degreaser.
Rosemary (family of sage) helps in keeping skin healthy and
has an antibacterial effect.
My Project.
Years ago I played in a university ceramics studio, but hand
building sculptures was never really my thing. For the past few years I’ve stored
a small kick wheel but had no kiln. After a friend of mine offered to bisque
and glaze our projects my kid and I played around for a winter or two, with the
idea to reclaim clay from our property and throw small Viking type cups &
bowls. Trying to build an aquamanile is lightyears beyond that, and not a minor
decision, so in the hope one would work out, I started work on three different
shapes.
Aquamanile in the
shape of a ram from Castle Hoensbroek.
I wanted to do this one as it was found in the Netherlands.
But for the life of me I could not throw a pitcher to then narrow the waist
without collapsing the clay, so this design bit the dust in the throwing stage.
The bump on the rear of this ram seems to indicate it was thrown as one shape,
with that being the plugged neck.
Aquamanile in the
shape of a stag.
Found in Rye,
UK and dated to
the 14th C. It is 24 cm high and 35.5 cm long and made from red
earthenware with lead glaze. The body is tubular, the antlers lie back to form
the handle, and the hind legs are missing. The body seems to be made from a
large tubular vessel with a smaller vase chest and a bud vase head.
Aquamanile in the
shape of a ram.
This aquamanile is assumed to be from Scarborough, England
and made between 1250 to 1350 CE. It is made from earthenware with green glaze
and measures 23.9 cm by 29.2 cm by 13.3 cm. It seems to be made from two larger
jars, with a small bud vase as the head and a separately thrown neck as the
water intake. It likely is missing its horns, from the absence of glaze on the
sides of the head.
Short Glossary:
Bisque: The first
stage of heating clay. Bisque dry means the object is ready to be bisqued. A
clay object first is bisqued heated so it is hard, then glaze is added and it
is heated again to melt the glaze. So each glazed piece is heated twice, once
to harden, and once to glaze.
Leather Hard:
letting clay dry for a while (often overnight) to partially dry out to a stage
where it will be sturdy enough to withstand adding things onto it, like
handles, legs etc.
Kiln: the oven
clay is fired or heated in (I borrow the use of a friend’s kiln).
Slip: very
watered down clay which can be used as glue.
Score, scoring:
drawing lines into the clay with a sharp object to increase the surface of where
two pieces of clay will be attached. Slip is added to cover the inscribed lines
to soften the clay for maximal stickiness and thus adherence.
Wheel: the
apparatus clay is thrown on. A heavy weight is kicked around an axle with a
small tray at the top, the heavy weight keeps the small tray turning with just
enough time between kicks to throw shapes out of clay. I use a mechanical kick
wheel which looks like and works very similar to the kick wheels used in medieval
times.
Published April 15th, 2017 in the Aethelmearc Gazette:
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2017/04/15/the-aquamanile-a-whimsical-way-to-proper-table-manners/
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2017/04/15/the-aquamanile-a-whimsical-way-to-proper-table-manners/
Bibliography
Amman,
Jost (1568) Panoplia omnium lliberalium
mechanicarum (Book of Trades); Der
Haffner
(The Potter), one of 133 woodcut book illustrations. Frankfurt:
Sigmund Feierabend. The British
Museum.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=1127437001&objectId=3106145&partId=1
Chatto, Edith Rickert Francis
Seager’s School of Virtue (1557) part of the Babees Book:
Medieval
Manners for the Young: Done into Modern English from Dr. Furnivall S. Texts,
p.151 London / New York: Duffield & Co., 1908
Greco, Gina L. & Rose,
Chrisine M. (ed.) The Good Wife’s Guide
(Le Ménagier de Paris, 1393).
Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 2009.
Heise, Jennifer (2007)
Hygiene of the Middle Ages and Rennaissance, Volume One: Personal
Grooming
The Compleat Anachronist #136
Metropolitan
Museum of Art (MET): Medieval
Aquamanilia
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aqua/hd_aqua.htm
Metropolitan Museum
of Art (MET): Dragon
aquamanile
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/471287
Metropolitan Museum
of Art (MET): Stag
aquamanile
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9254/aquamanile-unknown/
Plat, Sir Hugh (1609) Delightes
for Ladies. London:
printed by Peter Short.
http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home
St. Thomas
Guild: Medieval Table Manners.
http://thomasguild.blogspot.com/2013_10_01_archive.html
Virginia & albert Museum
(VA): Ram aquamanile
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/477815
Waterdene, Chrestiennede: Facebook post Stag Aquamanile.
https://www.facebook.com/ChrestiennedeWaterdene/posts/950022085106635?theater
