Medieval Lower Saxony Ciborium. c.1400 A.D. A gilt-bronze ciborium with hinged spherical body and conical finial imitating the spire of a church, trace remnant of the former cross once surmounting the ciborium to the top; tall knobbed stem with polylobed base supported by three later crouching lions. Cf. a similar ciborium from Lower Saxony in the Metropolitan Museum, accession number 1983.410; for the discussion on such religious artworks see Sam Fogg, Treasury Objects of Middle Ages, 24 June-30 July 2021, London, 2021. 856 grams, 30.5 cm high (12 in.) Frits Philips, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; his sale, Sotheby's Amsterdam, 4 December 2006, lot 347. Accompanied by a previous Sotheby's lot tag. Accompanied by an archaeological report by Dr. Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate no.11216-188582. A ciborium is a covered container that holds the consecrated bred used in the Catholic Christian ritual of Holy Eucharist and is one of the most significant of all liturgical vessels. The simply and elegantly designed ciborium relates it to the Gothic metal workers of Lower Saxony from the early 15th century. It is unclear whether our structure was intended as a monstrance, typically used to display the Host on the altar and during processions, as a ciborium (Latin for a covered receptacle or cup), in which the Host was contained without being visible, or as a reliquary for the safeguarding of holy relics; the German term for ciboria, Speisekelch or ‘food chalice’, reveals the connection between ciboria and chalices and points more to the second possibility. [No Reserve] [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website]