MEDIEVAL STONE MORTAR, 13TH–15TH CENTURY

Nearly one thousand years old, this medieval stone mortar bears witness to an early use in which medicinal, ritual, and experimental practices intertwined. Its massive form, with thick and deliberately irregular walls, reveals entirely hand-crafted workmanship, characteristic of an era when objects were created to endure through time. Four peripheral projections ensure a stable and secure grip, while a spout carved directly from the stone mass attests to a controlled use, allowing the pouring of liquid or semi-liquid preparations such as decoctions, macerations, or carefully elaborated mixtures.

The deeply hollowed bowl displays an ancient, dense, and silky patina, born of centuries of repeated grinding. The stone has been slowly polished by the substances it once contained, leaving a gentle and even wear inseparable from authentic and prolonged use. This inner surface, shaped by gestures now long vanished, cannot be artificially reproduced.

During the Middle Ages, this type of mortar held an essential place in monastic and medical environments, where it was used for the preparation of plants, resins, powders, and mineral substances. A working instrument as much as a vehicle of knowledge, it also formed part of more discreet practices in which early alchemy, symbolic correspondences, and certain forms of occult knowledge intertwined.

Preserved to this day in remarkable condition, without modern restorations, this mortar retains its natural asperities and the silent trace of a long historical journey. It now stands as a character piece for a cabinet of curiosities, intended for a collector sensitive to medieval materiality, genuine antiquity, and the depth of past uses.

PERIOD : Middle Ages
DIMENSIONS : 17 cm × 12 cm
SIZE : 6.7" × 4.7"