Seen in a few illustrations of feasts and eating utensils are aquamaniles – a sort of pitcher used for hand-washing. Typical forms include animals, mounted knights or horsemen, and fantasical monsters; most of the surviving examples seem to be metal, but there are several ceramic examples too. (More information can be found in the Florilegium; The Art of the Medieval Aquamanile is also interesting.)

Lions, Dragons, and Other Beasts: Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages, Vessels for Church and Table, an exhibit of the aquamaniles from the Met (several of which are also linked below), was on display at The Bard Graduate Center Gallery a few years ago.

(The medieval English word for an aquamanile seems to be laver.)

Following are examples of aquamaniles from museum collections and from medieval artwork.

• Eagle, bronze with silver and copper, late 8th century Iran (also here and here)
• Peacock, Spain, c. 972
• The Museum of London's ceramics collection features fragments of ceramic aquamaniles made in England between the 11th and 14th centuries, including acc. nos. A16880, A22338, and A16796.
• Cheetah, Italy or Egypt, 11th-13th century
• Gryphon, gilded bronze with silver and niello, early 12th century Lower Saxony (also here and here)
• Horseman, bronze, 12th century Islamic (?)
• Vaguely zoomorphic liturgical aquamanile (also here), 12th century Poland
• Centaur with a frog in his mouth, 12th century
• Man-eating lion, brass, 12th century
• Lion, brass, 12th century
• Lion, brass, 12th century
• Lion, brass, 12th century
• Lion, German, 12th century
• Lion, bronze with traces of gilding, 12th century
• Griffin, gilt bronze, Mosan, c. 1150
• Ceramic ram, made in Scarborough between the late 12th and early 14th century
• Ceramic bird, 12th century; painted in a Byzantine faience style, ornamented with green glaze, geometric motifs, and fish scales
• Griffin, Germany or Mosan, c. 1130
• Lion, bronze, late 12th century Magdeburg, Germany
• Lion, ceramic, 12th/13th century (possibly Islamic)
• Horse and rider, c. 1150-1200
• Horse and rider (possibly oriental/Islamic), c. 1200
• Lion trampling vipers, northern Germany c. 1200
• Lion's head, Lower Saxony, c. 1200
• Gryphon, Lower Saxony, c. 1200
• Dragon, copper alloy, northern Germany, c. 1200
• Sword-bearing centaur with serpents, Germany c. 1200
• 13th century aquamaniles at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum: photos here and here
• Rooster, copper alloy, Lower Saxony, 13th century
• Ceramic horse, 13th century Eggenberg
• Cow and Calf attacked by a lion, bronze and silver, early 13th century Persia
• Crowned lion, bronze, early 13th century Lower Saxony
• Lion, bronze, Lower Saxony, c. 1215-1230
• Knight on a restless horse, bronze or brass, first half of the 13th century
• Bird-Man, bronze, early 13th century southern Germany
• Lion, gilded bronze, 13th century northern France
• Lion, 13th century Flanders or northern Germany
• Lion, 13th century Saxony
• Crowned lion, 13th century Lower Saxony
• Man on horseback, bronze, 13th century Scandinavia
• Horseman, bronze, 13th century England or Scandinavia
• Knight on Horseback, bronze, 13th century England
• A hunter riding a horse, c. 1200
• A hunter riding a horse, 13th century (found in Slovakia)
• A hunter riding a horse, 13th century Scandinavia
• Lion, bronze?, 13th century
• Horse, bronze or brass, Maas, 13th century
• Kneeling Man, bronze, 13th century Lower Saxony
• Lion, copper, 13th century northern Germany
• Lion, brass, 13th century Flanders or northern Germany
• Kneeling (lame?) man, Hildesheim, Germany, 13th century
• Lion, Lower Saxony, early 13th century
• Lion, Lower Saxony, c. 1220-1225
• Crowned centaur (Chiron?) fighting a dragon, Hildesheim, Germany, 1240-1260 (this, this, and this seems to be more views of the same item)
• Lion, Lower Saxony, 1240-1260 (also here)
• Lion, mid-13th century Lower Saxony
• Wolf (?) with a bird in its mouth and a smaller animal on its back, Germanic, 13th century
• Knight on a saddled horse, bronze, central Europe, c. 1250
• Mounted knight, Lower Saxony, mid-13th century
• Lion, brass, Hildesheim, c. 1250 (also here; or go to LACMA Collections Online and enter AC1992.152.100 into the quicksearch box)
• Knight on horseback, bronze, Hildesheim, second half of the 13th century (also here)
• Lion, Lower Saxony, 1250-1300
• Samson and Lion, leaded latten, mid-13th to early 14th century northern Germany (possibly Hildesheim); also here and here.
• Ram, ceramic, Scarborough, England, c. 1250-1350
• Ceramic aquamanile made in northern Austria, c. 1275-1300
• Unicorn (with a dragon), Lower Saxony, fourth quarter of the 13th century
• Lion, Lower Saxony, 1280-1300
• Three enamelled basins for aquamaniles, Limoges, 13th century: here, here, and here
• Beast, ceramic with green glaze, mid- to late 13th century England
• Mounted Knight, bronze, late 13th century Saxony
• A stylized quadruped (probably a lion), brass, 13th-14th centuries
• Stag from the Cwm Nant Col hoard in Wales, late 13th or early 14th century
• Lion, late 13th or beginning of the 14th century, Lower Saxony
• Unicorn, bronze, early 14th century Lower Saxony
• A man’s head, bronze, early 14th century northern Germany (Hildesheim?)
• Lion, bronze, early 14th century Germany
• 14th century German aquamanile at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum
• Lion
• Lion (Historiska Museet, Sweden)
• Lion, c. 1350
• Lion, 14th century
• Lion, tinned bronze, 14th century
• Horse with a quadruped on its back, brass, 14th century
• Lion, bronze, Lower Saxony c. 1350
• Lion with dragon-handle, bronze, Germany (Master Bernhuser), last quarter of the 14th century
• Lion, and another lion, 14th or 15th century
• Aristotle and Phyllis, bronze, late 14th/early 15th century northern Germany
• Aristotle and Phyllis (also here), bronze, early 15th century eastern France or southern Netherlands
• Lion, Lower Saxony, c. 1400 (also here)
• Lion, Germany or Netherlands, c. 1400
• Lion, Germany, c. 1400
• Horse, brass, Nuremburg
• Lion, brass, Nuremburg, c. 1400
• Gryphon, Nuremberg, c. 1400 (also here)
• Horse, Nuremberg, c. 1400
• Unicorn (with a dog on its back), Nuremberg, 1400-1420 (also here)
• Knight on horseback, Regensburg, first half of the 15th century
• Lion (also here and here), latten alloy, 15th century Nuremberg
• Lion, northern Europe, 15th century
• Lion, Nuremburg, c. 1400
• 15th century aquamaniles at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum: photos here, here, and here
• Lion, brass, 15th century
• Lion, brass, 15th century
• Lion, brass, 15th century
• Lion, bronze, 15th century northern Europe
• Aquamanile in the Form of a Dwarf Centaur, Germany, second half of the 15th century; its outstretched hands may have been candleholders
• Lion, bronze, 15th-16th century Germany
• Bust of a young man, brass, 15th century
• Horse, and another horse; both are 15th century brass
• Horse, bronze, 15th century Germany
• Horse, brass, Flanders or northern Germany
• Beast, ceramic with green glaze, 15th century Switzerland (see description)
• Horse, brass, Germany, c. 1441-1460
• Saint Martin of Tours dividing his cloak, brass, 16th century
• Aquamanile with cuerda seca decoration, Spain, c. 1520
• Ceramic aquamanile made in 16th century Raeren
• Ceramic aquamanile made in Raeren in the 1570s; has busts of Philip II of Spain and Anne of Austria
• Some non-figural lavabos (hanging lavers), 15th-16th centuries, from churches and museums in Belgium: Kerk Sint-Paulus, Vollezele; Kerk Sint-Petrus en Urbanus, Huise; Kerk Sint-Marinus, Herk-de-Stad; Kerk Sint-Leonardus, Zoutleeuw; Kerk Sint-Eligius, Eine; Kerk O.L. Vrouw, Lichtaart; Kerk Sint-Niklaas, Dessel; Kerk Sint-Willibrordus, Kasterlee; Kerk Sint-Jan-Baptist, Weelde; Kerk Sint-Andries, Balen; Kerk Sint-Trudo, Eksel; another from Kerk Sint-Trudo, Eskel; Kerk O.L. Vrouw, Deinze; Kerk Sint-Martinus, Kerkom; Kerk Sint-Kwinten, Zonhoven; Kerk Sint-Laurentius, Bocholt; Kapel O.L. Vrouw der Bedruketn, Opitter; Kerk Sint-Odulphus, Borgloon; Kerk Maria Tenhemelopneming, Zutendaal; and this, this, this, this, and this at the Museum Vleeshuis in Antwerp; Eglise Saint-Pancrace, Focant; Eglise Saint-Lambert, Dinant; Muse Royal de Mariemont, Morlanwelz-Mariemont; and the collection of J. Frsart in Lige. A similar aquamanile appears in the center panel of the Mérode Altarpiece; I'm unsure whether this is meant only as a symbol of Mary's chastity & purity (as the ewer & basin in Campin's Werl Altarpiece and Madonna and Child or this detail of van der Weyden's Annunciation Triptych), or if it's meant to be seen as a typical element of 15th century Flemish domestic interior. Also V&A M.2669-1931, M.2676-1931, and M.2-1937.

Since I've had a few inquiries on where one can obtain aquamaniles ...

• Mittelalterkeramik has several aquamaniles based on ceramic or bronze originals.
• Poterie du Carbassou Rasigures has a rather giraffe-like aquamanile.
• Raku Raku Tei has a lion aquamanile; I suspect that the mounted knight, owl, and fish in the Gallery section may also be intended for use as aquamaniles, but I am unsure if they are based on historical examples.
• The Töpferei-Museum Langerwehe sells a beast-shaped aquamanile.
• Trinity Court Potteries sell aquamaniles in the shape of a ram, stag, or man on horseback.
• Two Hearts Entwined Pottery has several styles of glazed ceramic aquamaniles, including boars, deer, griffins, lions, rams, and knights on horseback.
• Got deep pockets? You might be able to find 19th century repros of some of the medieval metal aquamaniles, like the bronze lion-shaped aquamanile at Roy Precious Antiques & Fine Art