13TH CENTURY

As noted by Barbara Boehm, pyxes, used to keep the consecrated wafers kept for the sacrament of the Eucharist, were among the objects most frequently made by the Limousin workshops (see Enamels of Limoges: 1100-1350, exh. cat., New York, 1996, p. 258). The Limoges pyxes were first mentioned in c. 1220 and the present example dates from the first third of the 13th century. The construction was basic: a strip of copper hammered to form a circular band was soldered with a vertical seam and fixed to a flat base, and the cover, made from a single piece of hammered metal, was attached to the back of the body by a hinge (see B. Boehm, op cit., p. 258).