Aquamanile

Some exhibits, which may have had a liturgical use, do not differ from pieces used for non-religious purposes in any way. This is the case with the silver salvers, used for liturgical or even Eucharistic purposes (as cruet stands or receptacles for unconsecrated hosts), but also for domestic purposes, and ewers and basins, used at mass for the ritual washing of hands, but also in the secular ritual at the dining-table, where the washing of hands presupposed the existence of identical objects.
One of the most remarkable pieces in the collection is undoubtedly the silver-gilt aquamanile, from the mid-18th century, possibly designed to hold the water used in liturgical ablutions. It is a beautiful example of the baroque style, produced in a period of abundance and ostentation, common to both religious and secular society, when the French, and especially the Italian, artistic influences were widely felt in Portugal. In this period, pieces imported from Rome had a decisive influence, resulting in a more “sculptural” and more profusely decorative composition, in a solidly baroque style, which was widely accepted in Portugal and rapidly began to reflect the national taste.
The aquamanile in question has a markedly sculptural flavour, with a great density of decorative motifs and a relatively heavy stability, which were common features of gold and silverware in the reign of Dom João V. The spout is clearly differentiated from the body, as it has the shape of a bird’s head, the lines are capricious, the decoration of the handle exuberant, consisting of volutes surmounted by a sheep’s head, and the body is decorated with relief mascarons and festoons, encircled by volutes and intertwined patterns, all features that serve to make this piece unique. It was used by the bishop Dom Júlio Francisco de Oliveira (1740-1765), for it displays his coat of arms at the base.