Name of Object:

Pontifical Ceremonial Jug and Basin

Also known as:

Jug and Lavabo

Location:

Governor’s Palace, Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic

Holding Museum:

Moravian Gallery, Brno

 About Moravian Gallery, Brno , Governor’s Palace, Brno

Date of Object:

1732

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Josef František Rossmayer

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Silver (wrought, damascened and gilded)

Dimensions:

jug h: 22.4 cm, oval flap 9.9 cm x 8.1 cm; bowl 51 cm x 39 cm

Provenance:

Premonstratensian Abbey, Nová Říše

Description:

This oval basin, incised on its perimeter, is decorated with a strip of wrought ornamentation with festoons, grids, roses and a pair of putti heads. Its perimeter features a half-figure of St. John of Nepomuk, the patron saint of the person who commissioned the work. Opposite is a wrought oval label with a winged column representing the emblem of the Nová Říše Abbey, and engraved initials of the person who commissioned the piece, N.A /W./P.N./C.G. (Nobilis Abbas [Johannes Nepomucenus] Wyminko, Praepositus Neureuschensis /C.G.). Provost Jan Nepomuk Wyminko/Vejminko (c. 1683–1755) graduated from Hradisko, near Olomouc. He was provost of the Premonstratensian Abbey in Nová Říše from 1725 to 1732; in 1733 he was appointed the monastery's first abbot.
The jug and basin are part of a luxurious set that included ceremonial cruets and a chalice (not preserved). The works, both in their shape and decoration, are derived from Augsburg models (for example, those created by masters of the Biller and Drentwett families). The jug serves for purification at the mass: the priest uses it to wash his hands before taking the blood and body of the Lord. Any spilt water is caught in the basin.
Josef František Rossmayer probably took his apprenticeship in Prague and after journeyman's service abroad was appointed master in Olomouc in 1730. He made, among other things, candlesticks “in the Augsburg manner” for the main altar of the Sv. Kopeček Church, near Olomouc, a chalice with enamel figures of Christ's relatives for Brno cathedral and bindings for missals for the cathedral in Olomouc, in which he combined Augsburg and French models known from prints.

View Short Description

The jug and basin are part of a luxurious set that included ceremonial cruets and a chalice. The pieces, from an Olomouc workshop, are derived from Augsburg models both in shape and decoration (compare, for example, those created by masters of the Biller and Drentwett families).

Original Owner:

Premonstratensian Abbey, Nová Říše

How date and origin were established:

The objects feature four hallmarks, on the jug flap 1: an eagle in a circular label – Olomouc; 2: a partially blurred monogram FR in a cartouche – master's mark of Fr. Rossmayer; 3: partially blurred year in a label: 1732(?); on the bowl edge: 1-3.; 4: re-hallmarked: 12.F in a rectangular label; re-hallmarked Brno from 1806–1809; engraved initials N.A /W./P.N./C.G.

How Object was obtained:

The set remains at and originated from the Premonstratensian Abbey, Nová Říše.

Selected bibliography:

Miloš Stehlík, in Ivo Krsek – Zdeněk Kudělka (ed) – Miloš Stehlík – Josef Válka, Umění baroka na Moravě a ve Slezsku, Prague, 1996, p. 600, cat. 301.
Dana Stehlíková, in Jiří Kroupa (ed), Dans le miroir des ombers. La Moravie a la age baroque 1760–1790, Brno–Paris–Rennes, 2002, pp. 266–267, cat. 105.
Dana Stehlíková, Encyklopedie českého zlatnictví, stříbrnictví a klenotnictví, Prague, 2003.

Citation of this web page:

Zora Wörgötter "Pontifical Ceremonial Jug and Basin" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;cz;Mus11;17;en

Prepared by: Zora Wörgötter
Copyedited by: Jiří Kroupa
Translation by: Irma Charvátová
Translation copyedited by: Mandi Gomez


MWNF Working Number: CZ 18