Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Circular basin, silver parcel gilt, convex centre and broad everted rim; the centre gilt and embossed with a band of two satyr masks within strapwork cartouches and two pomegranates in strap frames, interspersed with pendant swags of fruit, around a knurled cartouche containing a silver print, which bears a coat of arms, quarterly of six, in black, red and blue basse-taille and champlevé enamels, on a green ground and gilt strap frame (areas of enamel missing), four engraved and gilt moresque lappets extending into the white silver cavetto; the rim gilt, and embossed with four large strapwork cartouches ornamented with central grotesque masks and with flower heads, between panels of moresque engraving, four further engraved and gilt moresques extending into the cavetto, moulded lip containing and stamped pattern ofRenaissance scrolls.

This magnificent ewer and dish were made in the Flemish city of Bruges about 1561. They were owned by William Mostyn, a Flintshire landowner and MP who died in 1576. The ewer and dish were an important status symbol and were likely to have been displayed prominently on the sideboard. However, they were also used to wash hands at the table in an age when people ate without forks.