2-721-294 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Standing pyx, c1490-1520, (1881). Etching of a pyx made in Córdoba, Spain, late 15th-early 16th century. A pyx is a container for storing communion bread - the 'host' - used during catholic mass. This example is of silver gilt with cloisonné enamels, decorated with wild men and a dragon, and a crucifix on the lid. The owner, a member of the Bermudez family, was a Knight of the Order of Alcantara. From "The South Kensington Museum", a book of engraved illustrations, with descriptions, of the works of art in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (formerly known as the South Kensington Museum). [Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London, 1881]