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Description: | A cast lead ampulla. Ampullae were an important kind of pilgrim souvenir in the medieval period. They were designed to contain a dose of thaumaturgic water, which would have been given to the pilgrims at the shrines and holy wells (Spencer, 1990 (part 2), p. 86). This example dates to between c. 1350-1530.
Almost all of the ampulla survives; only part of the rim has been slightly damaged and therefore some of the rim is missing. Both lugs survive intact; one is higher than the other. The front of the ampulla depicts a four petalled flower in relief, the petals have been decorated with a cross-hatching design, the veins on the petal are very pronounced. The reverse of the ampulla also appears to depict this design, but the surface is heavily worn, so very little detail survives. The ampulla has been cast from two plate of lead, which have been soldered together around the edges. The join is must obvious around the lugs of the ampulla, as they do not quite match up with each other and appear to be slightly different sizes. This suggests that this artefact has been crudely made.
The lead is in poor condition; the surface is light whitish-grey but is quite powdery and some flakes of the original surface have been removed. The ampulla weighs 47.12g.
Similar examples can be seen in Spencer, 1990 (part 2), p. 90-1, figs. 183-6. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1350
1530 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Liz Walker | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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