Reliquary Base with Carolingian Rock Crystal

Place of OriginPossibly Trier Germany (base); Metz, France (intaglio)

Datemetalwork, 1200-1225; rock crystal, 820-860

Dimensions8 1/4 × 18 3/4 × 9 in. (21 × 47.6 × 22.9 cm)

MediumGilded bronze, copper, silver, enamel, textile, gemstones; rock crystal

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1950.287

Not on View

DescriptionStands on four gilded claws, decorated with champlevé and filigree plaques. On top, two bronze gilded lions.

Label TextThis 13th-century reliquary base displays precious materials such as the enamel and metalwork obtained locally in Europe, paired with materials obtained from global networks of trade, including lapis lazuli and turquoise. The rock crystal intaglio (carved gem) with a cross and four evangelist symbols was probably carved in Metz, France, home to many imperial workshops for the 9th-century Carolingian court (Empire: 800–887). The gem may have been removed from a Carolingian cross to be reused and displayed at the center of this 13th-century reliquary, its optical properties both masking and magnifying the relic once placed behind it in a textile-lined cavity in the base. [105 words]Published ReferencesOtto van Falke and Heinrich Frauberger, Deutsche Schmelzarbeiten, Frankfurt am Main, 1904, p. 132, repr. pl. 93.

Frankfurt am Main, Austellung Alter Goldschmiede aus Frankfurter Privatbesitz u. Kirchen Schaetzen, 1914, no. 61, repr.

Wentzel, Hans, "Mittelalterliche Gemmen: Versuch einer Grundlegung," Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins fur Kunstwissenschaft, 8 (1941), p. 80, fig. 57 (incorrectly as in Mus. fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt) (crystal dated ca. 1200).

Baum, Julius, "Karolingische Geschnittene Bergkristalle," Fruhmittelalterliche Kunst in den Alpenlandern, Actes du IIIe Congres International pour l'Etude du Haut Moyen Age, Olten and Lausanne, 1954, pp. 111-17, 125-26, fig. 59, repr. p. 115 (incorrectly as in Chicago).

Riefstahl, Rudolf M., "Medieval Art," Toledo Museum News, VIII, 1, Spring 1964, p. 12, repr.

"Medieval Art at Toledo: A Selection"; APOLLO, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 439, repr. fig. 3 and 4.

Nordenfalk, Carl, "Die Evangelistensymbole," Das Einhardkreuz, ed. Karl Hauk, Gottingen, 1974, pp. 55-6, pl. 18 (2) (the engraved rock crystal).

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 25.

Kornbluth, Genevra, Engraved Gems of the Carolingian Empire, University Park, 1995, pp. 98-100, figs. 17-1 through 17-8.

Putney, Richard H., Medieval Art, Medieval People: The Cloister Gallery of the Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 2002, p. 55, repr. (col.) fig. 47.

Exhibition HistoryDusseldorf, Kunst-Historischen Ausstellung, 1902.

Frankfurt am Main, Austellung Alter Goldschmiede aus Frankfurter Privatbesitz u. Kirchen Schaetzen, 1914.