A Late Gothic Nuremberg Copper-Alloy Alms Dish Depicting Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man

A large and finely worked late Gothic copper-alloy alms dish, the central repoussé medallion depicting the Temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by a broad circular band of Gothic lettering and an everted rim enriched with punched floral and foliate ornament.

The central composition portrays Adam and Eve standing on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, around whose trunk the serpent is entwined. The serpent is represented with an unusual crowned, human-like head, a distinctive feature encountered in late medieval representations of the Fall of Man. Adam stands to the left, holding an apple in his raised hand, while Eve, positioned to the right, holds the forbidden fruit before her. Both figures are partially concealed by carefully rendered bunches of foliage.

The scene is enclosed within the architectural boundaries of Paradise, represented by a low enclosing wall and a fortified gateway to the right. Stylised flowering plants and vegetation occupy the foreground, while the spreading branches of the Tree of Knowledge form a decorative canopy above the figures.

A small Gothic scroll appears above Adam’s head, its inscription now indistinct. The central medallion is enclosed by a continuous band of Gothic lettering, bordered by punched foliate decoration. The broad outer rim is ornamented with regularly spaced small floral punches, characteristic of the decorative vocabulary employed by the Nuremberg Beckenschläger, or brass-basin makers, during the late medieval and early Renaissance periods.

The dish retains an attractive warm reddish-brown surface, with darker patination and traces of green oxidation within the recesses of the decoration

A closely comparable example is illustrated and discussed by Klaus Tiedemann in Nürnberger Beckenschlägerschüsseln — Nuremberg Alms Dishes, pp. 43–44, fig. 33a.

The published dish depicts an exceptionally similar composition, incorporating the same arrangement of Adam and Eve, the serpent entwined around the Tree of Knowledge, the enclosing garden wall and the architectural gateway to Paradise. Of particular interest is the small scroll positioned above Adam’s head, which on the published example bears the date 1487.

Tiedemann records the inscription surrounding the central scene as ICH WART DER IN FRID G, translated in the publication as I was in peace. The lettering on the present dish appears closely related, although a complete transcription has not been established.

Tiedemann further associates the composition with illustrations from a German-language Biblia Pauperum, published at Nördlingen around 1470. The architectural enclosure of Paradise, the arrangement of the figures and the treatment of the serpent demonstrate the close relationship between late Gothic metalwork and contemporary woodcut illustration.

The resemblance between the present dish and Tiedemann’s illustrated example is particularly noteworthy. The correspondence extends beyond the general biblical subject to the individual positioning of the figures, the arrangement of the architectural elements and the distinctive treatment of the serpent. These similarities suggest that both belong to the same established design tradition and may derive from closely related, potentially identical, production dies.

Although the date 1487 is recorded on the published comparison, the corresponding inscription on the present example is no longer sufficiently legible to establish an independent date. Furthermore, dated designs could remain in production beyond the year represented in their inscriptions. A dating to the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century is therefore considered appropriate.

The present dish is a substantial and particularly attractive example of late Gothic German metalwork, combining a complex biblical composition with the ornamental traditions of the Nuremberg basin-making industry. Its close relationship to a published, dated example provides an important comparative basis for its attribution and historical interpretation.