SHOWCASE 36. WEST EUROPEAN SILVERSMITHING IN THE 13TH - EARLY 16TH CENTURY

The Armoury collection possesses a few works by West European makers, which are displayed in showcase 36. It includes a pyx, a vessel for the Communion, a reliquary in the form of a house with a saddleback roof, and a square plate with the'Crucifixion', executed by Limoges craftsmen in the 13th century. The articles are made of copper and decorated with dark- and light-blue and dark-green enamels. The flowering of the Limoges enamels happened in the 12th and 13th centuries, but in the 14th century the Italian makers, having used transparent enamel as a decorative technique, came to be in great demand. 

Also we can see a silver gilded chalice of 1330 with a smooth conical bowl and a faceted stem bearing a Latin inscription made with black enamel; an ewer set by Venetian makers, covered with coloured enamels; a silver gilded chalice of the early 16th century, executed in the style of Gothic architecture; two wine vessels, granted to Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow.