Basin

This impressive basin and matching ewer are of a scale and quality that suggest that they were primarily for display and occasional use in ceremonies, rather than for daily use.

The alternating sea monsters and bunches of fruit appear on a number of English vessels made around 1600. The presence of sea monsters on many of these types of vessels is appropriate, given that they traditionally held water. Some elements of the design of this pair, such as the fanciful masks, may draw inspiration from Italian and German prints or maps of the period. However, they have been combined here with distinctly English design elements, such as the strapwork resembling flat strips of leather and the decorative scrolls.

The applied boss at the center of the basin featuring a coat of arms beneath an earl’s coronet, made with a process that uses small punches to create lines resembling pin pricks, is likely a later replacement.