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Description: | Lead Offcut. Sub-triangular fragment clipped from cast lead sheet, stamped close to its edge where the sheet had diminished in its thickness from 2.8mm to c.2mm. The sheet includes a stamped device in a heater shield shaped frame. The device is the head of a stag with spread antlers, with an indistinct object between, probably representing a symbolic bird such as a pelican. The letters LELSV (I am loyal) appear in a compartment above the device. If the bird is a pelican, it may be a pelican 'in its piety', feeding its young with blood from its breast, a symbol of Christ's self-sacrificing care of the Faithful. The motif would therefore represent a stag with a symbol of Christ between its antlers. The vision of a stag with a cross between the antlers was a key feature of the legends of Saints Eustace and Hubert (the story featured either saint: for example, Pisanello's National Gallery painting depicts Hubert hunting, while murals in Canterbury Cathedral feature Eustace - the latter inspired Russel Hoban's novel Riddley Walker, wherein the name Eusa is attached to this character).Another example of this device stamped in lead (NLM-73F4D5) was discovered by the late Dave Chant; reportedly on the same day and the same site as this one - though this recollection is less certain. That object was initially interpreted as an unusual form of seal - with the exception of papal bullae, lead seal impressions are uncommon in England. The newly reported object leaves two local examples of the same mark; the recent find is clearly an offcut. This prompts the re-identification of this imprint as a plumber's mark. The plumber was probably Catholic - though the use of pelican rather than Cross could admit early post-Reformation sensitivity to the use of sacred imagery - and was possibly named either Hubert or Eustace. An Anglophone reading of the legend might possibly be ' I Eu[stace]'. The object is unpatinated, which, if a late medieval date is sustained, tends to suggest recent disturbance from a sealed context, Suggested date: Late Medieval to Early Post-Medieval, 1350-1550.Length: 32.7mm, Width: 24.0mm, Thickness: 2.8mm, Weight: 11.40gms.
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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