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Description: | An incomplete late Iron Age or Roman copper-alloy cosmetic mortar. Just over half of the bow of this mortar, one terminal and fragments of the central loop survive, the rest is now missing due to old breaks. The suriving bow is crescent shaped and tapers towards its terminals. It measures 49.2mm in length, 11.1mm at its widest point, across the centre of the bow and 8.7mm in depth, again at its widest point at the centre of the bow. The longitudinal groove measures 3.46mm in depth, at its deepest central point. There are two parallel fragments protruding from the centre of the underside of the bow, each measuring c2.5mm in length and c1.7mm in width, this is the remains of a central loop. Above this on both faces of the bow there is a central panel of decoration (which appears to have continued further onto the now missing part of the bow). The surviving decoration consists of six parallel vertical roughly rectangular indentations with a flat top edge and tapering lower edge, each one measures c4.9mm in lenght and 2.0mm in width. Inside these indentations the remains of decayed enamel can be seen. This enamel is now yellow/light brown in colour this however may not have been the original colour of the enamel but due to its decay. The surviving terminal of this mortar is a three dimensional animals head. The head projects down from the terminal of the bow at a c45 degree angle. It has two parallel small projecting pointed ears and a broad snout, which tapers slightly towards its tip. It is perhaps most likely that it is a cow being represented as bull and cow heads are the favoured motifs for the terminals of cosmetic mortars. It measures 7.6mm in length and 6.2mm in width. There is likely to have been another animal head terminal at the missing end. This cosmetic mortar would have been used with a cosmetic pestle to prepare small quantites of powdered substances, probably eye shadow and other cosmetics. Ralph Jackson of the British Museum has studied these cosmetic sets and has found that the sets vary greatly in size and in how elaborate they are, perhaps reflecting the importance of individuality in the selection of such a personal belonging. An association with fertility is indicated by their crescent shape and by the occasional twinning of male and female animal heads. These cosmetic sets are known to have been used in the late Iron Age and more commonly whilst Britain was a province of Rome. Indeed, they have only been discovered in the Britian and seem to be unique the Roman Britain.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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