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Description: | A complete cast copper alloy two-part handle from a drinking vessel (probably a tankard) of probable Post-Medieval date (c. AD 1550 ?? c. AD 1650). Overall length 104mm, 8mm thick, weight 62.5g.
The handle is complete and the mechanism for lifting the lid survives but the lid itself is missing.
The handle is irregular in plan and profile. In plan the handle is curved in a swan neck style. It tapers from the top, terminating at the base in a narrow sub rectangular flange. The flange would have been attached (perhaps soldered) to the side of the vessel. The handle is rectangular in cross-section. At the top of the handle are two sub oval perforations. Through these perforations the mechanism for lifting the lid is attached by a single cast circular cross-section copper alloy pin/bar. The mechanism consists of a tapering projection, rectangular in cross-section. This would have been attached to a wooden or leather lid. A second projection extends at an angle of 90?? to that of the first, terminatating in a cylindrical bar. The thumb of the user could be rested on the bar in order to raise and lower the lid.
Both elements are cast and each is sturdy, indicating perhaps that the tankard would have been for practical use rather than being decorative.
The handle and the mechanism for raising and lowering the lid are in good condition and are mainly covered in superficial light green powdery copper alloy corrosion products. However, some of the patina has survived and this is dark green and shiny.
Similar drinking vessel handles, although made of lead alloy and pewter, can be seen in the Museum of London Exhibition Catalogue: Hornsby, R G et al. 1990. 'Pewter: a celebration of the craft 1200-1700'. 63-67, 88-89 and 99. All these examples date to the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Three similar vessel handles, probably for tankards, are recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. See finds: IOW-FB00C5, HESH-C82053 and HESH-C86207 | Subjects: | Tankard Handle | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | McIntosh, Frances | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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