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Description: | Cast copper-alloy snakes' head handle from a vessel. The handle has a right-angled shank, which is circular in cross-section, circa 10mm in diameter. The shank has a broken terminal and is 15mm in length before the right angle. The main shank is 57mm in length including the head. The head is slender and in the form of a crested snake or sea monster, with faceted sides and oval eyes. There is a narrow crest on the top of the head. The mouth is also slender and depicted as slightly open. The object is most likely to be a handle from a vessel such as a strainer. Cf. Tassinari 1975, pl. IX 36a and b, pl X 41-3 and pl. XI 46, and a more naturalistic duck from Brough-under-Stainmore (Green 1978, 48, plate 73). A number of other animal handles are known from England, and are often associated with 1st century military sites. In most cases however the handles have swan heads with clearly defined beaks, whereas this example has no beak, unless the ends are broken off and the breaks patinated. Another interpretation for this form of object is as a cart fitting to which the reins were tied when the vehicle was stationary.
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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