Silver-gilt pax in the form of a classical portico with pediment, probably Germany, Aachen, ca. 1860, perhaps by the master of the forger Reinhold Vasters.

Silver-gilt (or imitation metal) pax in the form of a classical portico with pediment. Contains a silver plaque of the Resurrection. In the pediment of the frame is a head of God the Father. The base is decorated with a plain strapwork medallion and two heads in a Classical Roman style.

A rock crystal intaglio carved by Giovanni Bernardi for Cardinal Farnese in 1546-7 has a similar composition, and so it was originally assumed that the central relief on this pax was also by Bernardi, and made around 1550. What was probably Farnese's rock crystal intaglio is now mounted into a silver casket in the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen. Recent research into the activities of 19th century forgers, however, has revealed the relief in the pax, and the pax itself, to be fakes. See Krautwurst (2002), pp.646 and 650 for a discussion of the central relief and the source for the iconography of God the Father in the pax tympanum; Truman (forthcoming, 2010): see his discussion of a 'Tabernacle house altar', no. 1973.1.1558 of the Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

It was acquired by the Museum from M. Sampson of Paris on 15 March 1865 as possibly North Italian, and dated around 1540. Compare a similar example, also stamped twice with the 'ZP' mark, in the collection of Viscount and Viscountess Lee of Fareham (see Watts: 1936, no. 82). This piece may have been among the collection of early silver and other art treasures which the Viscount, Arthur Hamilton Lee, presented to Hart House, Toronto, Canada, in 1940 (see Baddeley, 2011).

The V&A also posseses a bronze version of Bernardi's Resurrection relief, Museum number 6889-1860, which is oval-shaped like the rock crystal intaglio.

Historical significance: The pax is important for the study of nineteenth-century forgeries, and particularly for an assessment of the sources of inspiration available to the Aachen jeweller and forger, Reinhold Vasters.

A pax was used during the ceremony known as the Kiss of Peace at the end of Mass. First the celebrant, then the congregation, one by one kissed the image on the pax. Each person who kissed the image said in latin 'Peace be with you', whilst the server who held the pax answered 'and the Spirit be with you'.

This pax, however, was made not for liturgical use but to satisfy the tastes of wealthy nineteenth-century collectors.

The piece was probably made by the tutor to Reinhold Vasters, a known nineteenth-century forger.

A rock crystal intaglio carved by Giovanni Bernardi for Cardinal Farnese in 1546-7 has a similar composition, and so it was originally assumed that the central relief on this pax was also by Bernardi, and made around 1550. What was probably Farnese's rock crystal intaglio is now mounted into a silver casket in the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen. Recent research into the activities of 19th century forgers, however, has revealed the relief in the pax, and the pax itself, to be fakes. It was made to satisfy the tastes of wealthy nineteenth-century collectors.

92-1865