Early 19th-Century Continental Antique Silver & Brass Ciborium

An early 19th-Century silver gilt and brass ciborium.

A ciborium is a liturgical vessel, usually made of precious metal and shaped like a cup or bowl, with a lid, used to hold the consecrated hosts (bread) during the Eucharist. It’s essentially the container for the bread that will be distributed as communion, and it is often kept in the tabernacle. 

With a cross-shaped finial over a circular-shaped silver lid with beaded edge. The bowl, again with a decorative beaded edge to the outer surface, is also made of silver and appears to bear the hallmark of the silversmith Jacob-Friedrich Kirstein, Strasbourg 1809-1819. Denoted by the mark of a males head. There is an additional lozenge-shaped mark but this is very worn and difficult to identify. The lid and bowl are gilded to their inner surfaces.

The bowl is supported on a double knopped stem. The knops are individually decorated and of graduated size. The ciborium is supported overall by a splayed circular foot with a stepped outer edge.

Provenance – Strasbourg, Early 19thC.

Condition – Please refer to the images. One of the horizontal bars (part of the patibulum) to the cross has become detached and has been lost. The cover and bowl have surface wear and some minor dents and the gilding is wearing thin and indeed has worn away in some places. 

Size.- Height 26 cm (10 1/4″)