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Description: | Medieval cast lead alloy ampulla or holy water container. The ampulla is incomplete, only the lower chamber survives and the neck and top have been lost from an old break. The chamber is sub-circular with a wide neck projecting up from one side. The decoration on both sides is very worn and partically missing; on one side is probably a shield with a equal armed cross, on the other is a equal armed line cross with an aditional radiating line in at least one quarter surrounded by a border or triangles and pellets. The shield and cross is paralleled in Spencer (1990:59 and 61, no.127 and 143) who suggested heraldic designs were simply a variation on the cross theme without having a particular heraldic association. The fragment is 35.6mm long, 29.7mm wide, 5.9mm thick and weighs 16.22 grams.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 shrines and holy wells (Spencer, B. 1990, Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges, Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum p, 57 ff).
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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