CategoriesAntiquities, Artifacts, and Religious Objects
Ceremonial Object
Objects made for ritual and ceremony, from ancestral offering vessels and liturgical silver to regalia, tea utensils and ritual banners.
No works indexed yet · 10 related artists
No open-access works for Ceremonial Object are in the index yet. They will appear here as more collections are indexed.
About
Many of the most carefully made objects in any culture were never meant for ordinary use. In Shang dynasty China, bronze vessels held food and wine offered to ancestors. Christian churches commissioned chalices and monstrances in gold and silver, and Jewish communities made Torah finials, Hanukkah lamps and spice boxes for the Sabbath. In Spain, polychrome wooden figures by sculptors such as Gaspar Núñez Delgado were carried through the streets in Holy Week processions.
The category also includes quieter rites. Japanese tea gatherings made bowls, kettles and water jars into objects of contemplation, and potters such as Shiro Tsujimura still make tea bowls today. Yoruba diviners used carved wooden trays, and in Haiti sequinned flags honour Vodou spirits. In the 20th century, silversmiths such as Ilya Schor gave Jewish ritual objects modern form. Wear and repair often show how long a ceremonial object remained in use.