GREDING, Bavaria, Germany – The sale “From Castles and Palaces” that Hermann Historica conducted on September 25 was small – fewer than 250 lots – and was led by a Fourteenth Century Lower Saxony lion aquamanile that achieved $225,360. Described as a rare courtly spouted vessel used for the ritual hand washing of guests before a banquet, the work included a 2014 expert report from the Institute for Materials Science in Wiesbaden with a positive alloy analysis and x-ray images, as well as a 2018 thermoluminescence report that classified the age of the casting core as approximately 620 years old.

A more extensive sale recap will appear in a future issue.