Skip to main content
Pyx - Image 1
Pyx - Image 2
Public Domain

Unidentified

Pyx

1232

Thumbnail 1
Thumbnail 2
Scroll

Unidentified

Pyx

1232

Physical Qualities Champlevé enamel on copper and gold, 3 7/8 x 2 5/8 in. (9.8 x 6.7 cm.)
Credit Line Bequest of Saidie A. May
Object Number 1951.440
A pyx is a container used to hold wafers for the Christian Eucharist, or communion ceremony. This small example was probably intended for bringing communion to the sick or dying. The colorful decoration on the incised copper body was achieved by using a glass-like enamel substance which hardens to create a reflective survace. Such decoration was intended to imitate the inlay of precious stones.
Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1951; Saidie A. May, Baltimore, MD by 1933

Maker

Unidentified

Explore the Collection Further

Unidentified
Large Jar
10-20th century
Unidentified
Daoist Female Attendant (fragment of a wall painting)
14th-15th century
Unidentified and Unidentified
Qur'an with barnāwī script and leather case
1844–1854