# Lidded ewer

- By: Adam van Vianen (I) (Utrecht, 1568–1627)
- Date: 1614
- Medium: silver (metal)
- Classification: ewer
- Dimensions: height 25 cm x width 14 cm x depth 9 cm x weight 910 g
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Prins Bernhard Fonds, the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/BK-1976-75--6fe2c6314868981d9cea106077e10c88)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/MMCGa/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

On this ewer everything is in motion. Animal and human forms emerge from a viscous mass. It is possible that it represents the primordial soup (prima matera) from which life arose according to alchemists. On the inside are two crawling salamanders or lizards: animals that were also thought to originate from non-living matter. Does the ewer establish a link between the creative power of the artist and that of nature?