ABSTRACT
From ancient times to the Middle Ages, particularly in the Byzantine Church, a cantharus-shaped chalice, often of gold or silver set with precious stones, was used for communion in both kinds.1 Probably because of the canonical restriction of the reception of the Holy Blood to the celebrant during the thirteenth century in the West, the elaborate, double-handled chalice soon fell into disuse,2 being replaced by a smaller and simpler vessel with a shallower bowl.3 By the fourteenth century the proportions of the liturgical chalice (calix) had been lengthened by the addition of a slender cylindrical stem with a central knop. A different type of foot had also evolved, often with six-lobe scalloping, though four-lobe occasionally appears, a style that extended eventually to the entire base. Corresponding changes also took place in the design of the knop, now commonly decorated with six lozenge-shaped oval patellæ. In England, following the Reformation, chalices increased in size as a result of the restoration of communion in both kinds to the laity.
