Champlevé enamel on gilt copper depicting saints and animals, France, early 14th century.

Pyx, champlevé enamel on gilt copper. Cylindrical with low domed cover on which are dragons within circles. Round the drum are twelve saints under canopies on alternate red and blue grounds. Inside the base is Christ in Majesty and symbols of the Four Evangelists, while the underside of the lid depicts a scene from the life of St Eustace (his children being carried away by a lion and a wolf.) The pyx has a moulded base enriched with pellets, the cover has a button-shaped knop and fastens with 'bayonet joints

Bought from the Soltikoff collection for £26.5.0 in 1866

Historical significance: This pyx is decorated inside with St Eustace. This legendary Christan martyr was converted to Christianity whilst out hunting. According to the legend Eustace was carry his two children one by one across the Nile. On his way back for the second child a wolf and a lion appeared on either side of the bank and snatched the two children away. Later the family was reunited, but they suffered martyrdom by being roasted alice in a hollow brazen bull.

The origins of this pyx has puzzled scholars. The work is executed in the champlevé technique of the famous Limoges enamellers, who were influential in the Middle Ages. However the style of the figures and the architecture have closer similarities with Parisian translucent enamels of the 14th century. Some scholars have suggested that this object could be an example of Limoges-style enamel made in Paris.

Comparisons in style have been made between this pyx and the goldsmith work of the reliquary of Jeanne D'Evreux, 1339, believed to be made in Paris.

Several pyxes of this style, shape and colouring survive. Along with another example in the V&A, a very similar pyx is held in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (museum no. OA 6936)

The Latin word pyxis means 'small box'. Objects like this have been used since the Middle Ages to hold the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the bread transformed into the Body of Christ during the Christian Mass. Wafers of bread were handed out to the congregation and left over pieces were stored in pyxes- decorative boxes suitably precious to hold such important items. Pyxes could also be used by priests to transport the blessed bread to the sick. A large proportion of surviving medieval pyxes are decorated in enamel. This may have been partly due to the relatively inexpensive nature of the raw materials compared to gold and silver, however the popularity of enamel was also due to its ability to colour metal which enabled a wide variety of iconographic designs.

The Latin word pyxis means ‘small box’. Boxes like this have been used since the Middle Ages to hold the Eucharist. This pyx is decorated both inside and out with figures of the Saints. Inside the lid is the legendary Christian figure of St Eustace and his two children carried by a wolf and a lion. According to the legend Eustace was carry his children one by one across the Nile. On his way back for the second child a wolf and a lion appeared on either side of the bank and snatched the two children away.

183:1, 2-1866