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Description: | Incomplete medieval lead ampulla, measuring 50.3x33.7(widest part - curved extremities of base)mm. It weighs 29.48g.The ampulla is missing one V-shaped lug (the other is bent over on itself) and one corner of the neck. The latter damage looks recent. At the top of the lugs the neck is 26.5mm wide. This expands slightly (on the corner that survives) and would have been c.28-29mm wide at the top of the neck.The obverse, the more rounded face of the ampulla, has been squashed and shows a Type II scallop shell (Spencer 1990, Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum Medieval Catalogue Part 2 p.59). Although the scallop is the badge of St James of Compostela, it was also the emblem of pilgrimage. Canterbury adopted this early on for its ampullae, and later other shrines copied, including probably Walsingham. The scallop in this example is bound at the top/ base of neck by a horizontal band comprising two parallel ribs infilled with an raised XXXX etc pattern, in line with the top of the lugs, and can be compared to Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum Medieval Catalogue Part 2 fig.179 (the band on this example being in line with the bottom of the lugs).The reverse of the ampulla is flatter and decorated with a cross (possibly of St George?) inside a shield and directly below a band (the same width as the top of the shield, c.14mm) in line with the centre of the lugs and decorated again with a XXX pattern between two parallel horizontal ribs. The shield widens slightly half way down to c.17mm. It is 22.3mm in length. Both cross and shield are depicted by ribbed lines. The cross touches the inside edges of the shield. Both cross and areas of shield around the cross are decorated with raised XXX decoration.Ampullae were either worn around the neck or often donated to the neighbourhood to be hung in the parish church. They come into use in the late twelfth century and feature as secondary relics in virtually every thirteenth century parish church. With the introduction of pilgrim badges in the fourteenth century, they become more stereotyped and less informal. This example dates to the late medieval period, c.1350-1500.
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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