Ceremonial brass receptacle, inscribed with occult symbols.  Age and
method of manufacture unknown.  Reputedly, this object was employed
by King Gorice XII during his final, disastrous attempt to redeem his
bad fortune by conjuring evil spirits in the hope that they could be
controlled and made subservient to his will.  In any case, it is known
to have been retrieved by looters, after Gorice's death, from the ruins
of the infamous Iron Tower at Carcë in Witchland.  In style
and design, however, it is clearly not of Witchlandish origin,
and some modern authorities have speculated that it may have
originated in the workshops of the evil wights of the Moruna in Upper
Impland. This hypothesis, however, remains unproven.  It has also
been suggested that this may be the same object, mentioned in passing
by the unfortunate Lord Gro, that was lost by Laxus when his great
fleet was destroyed and sunk off Melikaphkhaz.
Provenance: Lessingham collection.

Back to the Museum