Aquamanile in the form of a knight on horseback
This aquamanile in the form of a knight on horseback was cast in 2015 in Bastian Asmus’ workshop, and leans heavily on an original from the 13th century. It was cast in bronze by the lost wax technique.
Next to lion and griffin aquamanile a knight on horseback was a widely used form of aquamaniles . One of these I made earlier this year and cast it in bronze in my workshop. The original aquamanile is from the 13th century from northern Germany, probably around Hildesheim.
This object displays the impressive skills of the 13th century artists and foundrymen. The arms, legs and stir-ups are modelled full round, which adds quite a bit of complexity to the preparation of the casting mould; especially when we are considering that these moulds were not made like modern investment moulds, but by applying moulding loam to every bit of wax surface. The materials thickness of the bridle or stir-ups is in places less than 2mm in diameter. The knight is not modelled separately but cast in one piece with the horse.
Just as the griffin aquamanile this reconstruction can be seen in the newly opened European Hanseatic League Museum in Lübeck, Germany.
