Cleveland table fountain

Cleveland table fountain
Table Fountain, c. 1320–40. France, Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade 1924.859.
Year	c. 1320–40
Medium	Gilt-silver and translucent enamels
Dimensions	33.8 cm × 25.4 cm × 26 cm (13 5/16 in × 10 in × 10.25 in)
Location	Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland table fountain is the only surviving complete European Medieval tabletop water feature, currently held by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Built between 1320 and 1340 CE in Paris, the three-tiered table fountain depicts a miniature Gothic building adorned with battlements, bells, pinnacles, vaults, columns, and plaques depicting grotesque figures playing musical instruments. It is built with gilt-silver and translucent enamel. Although previously thought to be placed atop banquet tables, table fountains were typically placed on pedestals in conspicuous locations in palaces. The nozzles would shoot water (sometimes scented) onto the bells to ring. Although Medieval inventories reveal that these fountains once existed in large quantities, the Cleveland table fountain is the only one of its time in complete form to survive, making it a very rare but textbook display.^[1] The military siege craft and Gothic architecture make this fountain a product of its time.