Type of ewer, usually of metal, used for the washing of hands in a liturgical or secular context. It is often zoomorphic in form and usually has two openings, one for filling with water and the other for pouring. In their original usage aquamanilia expressed the symbolic significance of the lavabo, the ritual washing of the hands by the priest before vesting, before the consecration of the Eucharist and after mass. The earliest production of aquamanilia is associated with Mosan art of the Meuse Valley in northern France, and with Lower Saxony in north-east Germany. The majority of surviving examples are made of a variety of bronze that resembles gold when polished, while nearly all those made of precious metals are known only from church inventories.

• ewers
  • Ewer and basin
  • historical and regional traditions
    • Afghanistan
      • Islamic art, §IV, 3(i)(a): Metalwork: Iranian world, c 1100–c 1400
      • Islamic art, §IV, 3(i)(b): Metalwork: Iranian world, c 1400–c 1500
    • Belgium
      • Belgium, §IX, 1(i): Gold and silver, before 1600
    • Central Asia, Western
      • Central Asia, §I, 5(i)(c): Western: Precious metalwork, 7th–11th centuries
      • Central Asia, §I, 5(ii)(b): Western: Base metalwork, 8th–19th centuries
    • Chile
      • Chile, §IV: Gold, silver and jewellery
    • China
      • China, §VII, 2(v): Ceramics: Shapes
      • China, §VII, 3(i)(c): Ceramics: East Coast Neolithic
      • China, §VII, 3(iii)(b): Low-fired ceramics: Six Dynasties to Sui
      • China, §VII, 3(iv)(b): Ceramics: Song
      • China, §VII, 4(iv): Export ceramics: India and South-east Asia
      • China, §X, 1(ii): Gold and silver: Qin to Sui
    • Crete
      • Minoan, §IX, 2: Bronze metalwork
    • Cycladic
      • Cycladic, §III, 3: Late Cycladic pottery
    • Czech Republic
      • Vianen, van: (2) Paulus van Vianen
    • Egypt
      • Islamic art, §VIII, 5(i): Glass, 7th–11th centuries
      • Islamic art, §VIII, 13(i): Rock crystal, 7th–11th centuries
    • France
      • France, §VII, 1(ii): Pottery, 1600 and after
      • France, §IX, 1(i): Gold and silver, before c 1450
      • France, §X, 4: Hardstones
    • Germany
      • Germany, §IX, 1(ii)(a): Gold and silver, 1520–c 1700: Style and forms
      • Germany, §IX, 2(i): Copper alloys
    • Hungary
      • Hungary, §VIII, 1(i): Gold and silver, before 1600
    • Indian subcontinent
      • Indian subcontinent, §VIII, 15(v)(c): Inlaid and encrusted metalwork: Bidri ware
    • Iran
      • Islamic art, §IV, 2(i)(c): Base metals, before c 1100: Iraq and western Iran
      • Islamic art, §IV, 2(ii): Gold and silver, before c 1100
      • Islamic art, §V, 3(iii)(c): Ceramics in Iran & western Central Asia, c 1000–c 1250: Fritwares
    • Islamic
      • Fatimid
      • Islamic art, §IV, 1(iv): Metalwork: Forms
      • Islamic art, §IV, 3(ii)(e): Metalwork, c 1100–c 1250: Syria & the Jazira: Decoration
    • Italy
      • Ornament and pattern, §II, 3(ii): Western Renaissance and Mannerist
    • Japan
      • Japan, §VIII, 3(i)(c): 16th-cent. glazed ceramics: Seto & Mino wares and the rise of the tea ceremony
    • Korea
      • Korea, §VI, 4(i)(a): Koryo stoneware, 918–1392: Celadons
    • Netherlands, the
      • Netherlands, the, §VII, 3: Ceramics, 1751–1830
      • Netherlands, the, §IX, 1(ii)(b): Gold and silver, 1600–1813: Forms
    • Nupe
      • Nupe, §3: Metalwork
    • Spain
      • Spain, §IX, 1(iii): Gold and silver, c 1606–c 1700
    • Sweden
      • Sweden, §IX, 2(iii): Base metals: Copper
  • materials
    • bronze
      • Romanesque, §VI, 4(ii)(a): Metalwork in the Holy Roman Empire: Bronze and brass
  • types