Chalice from Iijoki church

Unknown goldsmith, 1625. Height 18 cm.

This chalice was donated to the church of Iijoki in 1625. The chalice has medieval stylistic features, such as the Gothic-style stem. The bowl is round-bottomed, widens towards the rim and has a smooth surface. The stem is hexagonal. The slightly flat node has lozenge-shaped bosses with the letters IESVSS (or S [Sanctus?] IESVS) engraved into them. The foot is divided into a six-petalled rosette with an imprinted band around the edges. The bottom edge of the base plate is profiled. A small cast crucified Christ is attached to the foot, with a simple cross engraved to the foot by it. The base plate has caved in and broken.

Engraved on the foot is the coat of arms of the Banér family and the following writing: HER *SCWANDE* *BANER* j625* *jIO *SOCHEN*. The edge of the base plate has an unidentified mark that has been considered a signature.

The chalice was donated to the church of Iijoki by councillor Svante Banér (1584–1628), who was born in Djursholm, Sweden, and died in Riga, where he was a governor. The barony of Iijoki, which was one of the numerous fiefs granted to the nobility on the Finnish side of the Baltic Sea from the 15th to the 17th centuries, was first reigned by Åke Axelsson Tott (1405/7–1477), born in Skåne. After Svante Banér, the fief was transferred in 1652 to councillor and baron Åke Natt och Dag (1594–1655). The overlords had a general custom to donate items, such as communion vessels, candlesticks, chasubles, or altar frontals, to the central church of their fief.