Petition plate. Northern Europe, 19th century

Petite dish. Northern Europe, 19th century.
Chiseled brass.
Measurements: 4,5 x 35 x 35 cm.

Dish made of chiseled brass with the seat embellished with the image of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception with the Child. Both figures, which step on the characteristic half moon, are framed in a circular radiate medallion. These liturgical objects, in which the alms given by the faithful after religious celebrations were collected, have their origin at the end of the 10th century, in the Belgian city of Dinant. From the second half of the 14th century they began to be manufactured, also in the German city of Nuremberg, where they reached a great development. It was in the 18th century when the fashion of making them in silver spread in Europe. They were circular basins of large size and shallow depth, with a flat rim and decorations based on vegetal borders, gadroons and inscriptions surrounding a central medallion with an iconographic content related to biblical or New Testament passages, figures and themes.