Pyx and lid

A pyx is a container for consecrated wafers of bread used in Mass. This bronze example with bronze lid was found in the cathedral precinct in St Andrews in Fife. It dates from the 12th century.

Pyx or ciborium of thin bronze, the bowl having an engraved star on the base and the lid an engraved cross head

In the Medieval Church the altar was the focus of Mass or Communion, in which bread and wine were consecrated in commemoration of Christ's Last Supper. The altar itself and the ritual objects were usually decorated and highly valued.

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