Aquamanile in the Form of a Ram

This artwork is called "Aquamanile in the Form of a Ram" and was created by an author dubbed Unknown (strange name:) in England.  Being a glazed earthenware product (the dimensions are 9 7/16 x 11 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches), and using luminescence dating
( http://daybreaknuclear.us/bortolot_faq.html ), this ram was created circa 1300 and was most likely made in the Scarborough area where a plethora of kilns were found there at the time.  Though it is apparently in very good condition, the ram's horns are missing, and a great deal of paint, especially on the other side, has flaked away. 


So...what's so cool about this dilapidated clay ram?  Well, if you notice, there are two holes in the ram: one is a large opening at the top by the head, and a smaller one is where its mouth would be located.  This ram is no ordinary artwork, rather serves a practical purpose as well: it's an aquamanile
( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ewer ).  There is the top, larger opening where water is poured into, and the mouth opening where it flows out.  I chose this piece of art for this reason; it shows that art can have an aesthetic or deep meaning to it, but also a functional aspect


The earthenware piece is more rounded and abstract than an actual male sheep, and there are two possibilities as to why this is so.  First, the artist may have chosen to create the most space as possible to hold water in the vessel.  Second, the abstract, not-completely-clear quality (from what we can see) of the ram shape could make it more aesthetically pleasing, thus more likely that a customer would buy it.  The deep, rich and shiny green that the ram was painted with could additionally increase the chance of a sale.  And notice the ridges on the sides of the piece: this could either add to that unique viewpoint of the artwork, or the artist could be attempting to conform slightly, to make the audience connect the ridges of the clay animal with ridges of traditional pottery bowls and the like.  Why the artist would do this, other than to better sell the practical artwork, is unknown.


What does the aquamanile ram mean to us today?  Rams are not very significant to the general public today, as then it was known that rams were needed to reproduce more sheep, whose wool was an important trading tool.  Around the exact same time that the artist was creating the artwork, Great Britain began exporting sheep wool to Italy.  Without rams, there are no sheep, which means there is not wool.  So then, sheep were important, as were (but no as much so) the rams.


It is extremely important to keep in mind, that, though the artwork does not create a direct, or deeper emotion in the modern-day audience as perhaps the as it did in the general public in the 1300s, the general idea of this work is that there is value in art of the broadest sense: a pitcher or any other useful item can be art.  The fact that a ram is in the form of a pitcher reminds the audience of the two unseemingly different things.  A ram could provoke further thoughts from the audience, such as livestock and animals used for human demand, as to what we, as luxurious and pompous human beings, don't realize that we need, (like wool then and now, though other items along with this one now are extremely important). Many people do not take time to acknowledge the immense amount of things that are necessary to us.  A ram, a symbol or strength and possibly even wealth in the trade-centric Great Britain, serves the purpose of functional ability and visual pleasure.  The ram today tells us humans that art is such a wide range of ideals, contexts, and visual qualities, and they all overlap to make one art piece.