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A late 15th/early 16th century gilt copper Monstrance German or Flemish, with later alterations image 1
A late 15th/early 16th century gilt copper Monstrance German or Flemish, with later alterations image 2
Lot 6

A late 15th/early 16th century gilt copper Monstrance
German or Flemish, with later alterations

1 July 2025, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £2,560 inc. premium

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A late 15th/early 16th century gilt copper Monstrance

German or Flemish, with later alterations
Of typical architectural tower form, the central bulbous cylindrical glass container below a stepped pierced arched upper gallery surmounted by a faux tiled steeple top (now lacking cross finial) and flanked by elaborate pierced crocketed Gothic arched buttress type wings with scrolling terminals, the whole raised on a hexagonal and lobed bulbous knopped central swept support above a moulded canted rectangular spreading base, 49cm high, 21.5 cm wide overall approximately

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired from Arthur Davidson, 1971.

A monstrance (also known as an ostensorium) is a vessel used to display the consecrated Eucharistic host (the sacramental bread), carried in processions and exhibited during certain devotional ceremonies. Both terms, monstrance and ostensorium, are derived from Latin words (monstrare and ostendere) meaning "to show".

First used in France and Germany in the 14th century when popular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament emerged, monstrances were modelled after pyxes or reliquaries—sacred vessels used to transport the host or relics. The host is held in a device called a lunette, which fits into an opening behind the glass.

Additional information

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