Traveling Communion Set

Comprised of a chalice for wine, a cruet to hold holy water, and a paten for bread, this portable, interlocking set made it possible to enact the ritual of communion outside the walls of the church. Priests carried small sets like this when they visited the sick or dying or when traveling into unsettled territories. This set was crafted by the Angell family, a prominent silversmithing partnership in nineteenth-century London. Accomplished engravers, the Angells decorated the chalice, cruet, and paten with miniature architectural motifs in the Gothic Revival style. The well-worn leather traveling case is original.