In medieval Germany, no craftsman before the thirteenth century, could have produced this round fountain-basin of granite. Its diameter is about three feet (110 centimeters), its height about one foot (28 centimeters). It weighs about 400 kilograms. Probably because of its size and weight, it survived intact while the buildings around it deteriorated. The basin is pierced by five quadratic apertures, one in the hub, the other four, smaller ones, crosswise in the bottom.

At one time in ancient Italy, the basin would probably have been connected to water pipes and served as a decorative garden fountain. Its medieval function would not have been the same, however. The basin has been in private hands since 1875. At the Ottonian Episcopal Church in Magdeburg, an older basin of porphyry still serves as the baptismal font.