Ostrich egg cup (ostrich egg, silver-gilt, enamel; height 29
cm); probably French or South German, around 1400 The body of
the cup, which comes from the former Benedictine monastery of St
Veit at Herrieden near Ansbach in Franconia, consists of an
ostrich egg. Ostrich eggs were highly prized as exotic rarities
both in the secular world of Kunstkammer and cabinets of
curiosities and in ecclesiastical contexts. The Gothic mount of
the present cup, with its spiral cap, chain and adoring angels,
suggests that it was used as a reliquary or as a container for
sacred liquids, such as water from the river Jordan or holy
ointments. Please click on a picture of your choice to get an
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