Large 16th-century Nuremberg Lion-shaped Offering Dish With Pomegranates

An important offering dish made of repoussé and chased copper, crafted in the workshops of Nuremberg during the 16th century. This work of the German Renaissance features a radiating design organized around a central medallion adorned with a spiral rosette.

The dish’s basin is decorated with alternating lion heads holding pomegranates in their mouths and raised fleurs-de-lis, all embellished with delicate small flowers and a bold, continuous scrollwork border. The rim is punctuated by a frieze of small stamped flowers that elegantly highlights the composition.

The iconography is particularly rich in meaning. The lion, a symbol of power, courage, and vigilance, is also associated with the risen Christ in Christian tradition. The pomegranate, with its countless seeds gathered within a single fruit, evokes the unity of the Church, spiritual fertility, and the Resurrection; its fruit opens to reveal red pulp reminiscent of Christ’s sacrifice. Finally, the fleur-de-lis is the emblem of the Virgin Mary’s purity and of the Holy Trinity—represented by its three petals—as well as of Christian royalty. The combination of these three motifs gives this dish profound symbolic significance, making it perfectly suited for its liturgical use as an offering dish.

The decoration, created entirely through repoussé, stamping, and chasing, attests to the virtuosity of the Nuremberg copper smiths, whose work was among the most renowned in Europe during the Renaissance.