By the early 16th century, northern European brass dishes had become greater in diameter, the depressions shallower and the flanges of the rims wider than they had been in the 15th century. Pictorial themes continued to be used in decoration but the wider bases afforded scope for an increasing use of abstract decoration. A central motif might be bounded by one or two concentric bands of decoration - either interlaced scroll-like waves or lettering. This decoration was not necessarily embossed with punches in the traditional manner but was often cast in the mould at an earlier stage in the manufacture. The inscriptions themselves were usually meaningless and were incorporated into the overall design merely for their decorative value. On this example the central image is surrounded by bands of floral scrollwork, an inscription and fishes, all done with repeating stamps, with stamped decoration on the rim.

Production of such bowls was centred in Nuremberg but not exclusively. Other centres of brass production were Dinant in Flanders and its immediate neighbourhood, from Bouvignes to Aachen. Techniques and styles were copied with equal facility everywhere so it is difficult to assign a place of manufacture within northern Europe to any dish produced during the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, not only did the export of dishes from the Dinant area provide prototypes for others to follow, but the downfall of the town in 1466 to Charles the Bold of Burgundy saw the dispersal of refugee metalworkers.

Those dishes exported to Britain were sometimes used as alms dishes. Elsewhere their function was primarily secular. European paintings of domestic interiors show that they were frequently used in conjunction with lavabos (basins) or ewers, also in brass, for washing hands after a meal. Before the 17th century, when forks became customary, such equipment was essential to any dining table.

The subject depicted is the sacrifice of Isaac by his father, Abraham. To test Abraham’s faith, God commanded him to make a burnt offering of his son, Issac. Abraham travelled to the place of sacrifice on his donkey, with Isaac carrying the wood for the altar fire. Abraham bound Isaac, laid him on the altar and drew his knife. At that moment an angel appeared and stayed Abraham’s hand, saying, ‘Now I know that you are a God-fearing man. You have not withheld from me your son.’ Abraham raised his eyes and saw a ram caught in a thicket, which he sacrificed instead.

This subject occupied a central place in the system of medieval typology that drew parallels between Old and New Testament themes: Abraham’s intended sacrifice was seen as a type of crucifixion, suggesting God’s sacrifice of Christ; Isaac carrying the wood prefigured Christ carrying the Cross; the ram became Christ crucified; and the thorns in the thicket became the crown of thorns.