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The Ampulla
The Ampulla, or Golden Eagle, and the Anointing Spoon are possibly of great age.
The Ampulla, which contains the oil for the Anointing of the King, measures, with the pedestal, about nine inches in height. The stretch of the wings is seven inches. It weighs about ten ounces of solid gold, and the cavity of the body is capable of containing about six ounces of oil.
The head screws off at the neck for the cavity to be filled, and the oil pours out of the beak into a golden spoon. The handle of the spoon is undoubtedly old, probably Byzantine. It is about 7.5 inches long. A circular ornament, with traces of chased work upon it, is the chief attempt at decoration.
The bowl, about 2 1/4 inches long, has work upon it which is more difficult to date. It is divided by a ridge down the middle into two parts, into which the Archbishop dips his two fingers, and at its junction with the stem there is an engraved leaf pattern, the treatment of which is comparatively modern.
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