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Description: | An incomplete copper alloy terminal, probably from a pipe tamper of late post medieval dating (1750-1900 AD).The terminal is in the form of a fish, with the stem located in the centre. The fish is sub rectangular in shape, and oval in cross section. Detail has been marked on the body by using a stamped pellet for the eye and repeating stamped crescents to indicate scales. The tail is incomplete.The stem extents from the middle of the fish, and it expands and tapers along its length. Below the stem a cylinder (diameter 9.7 mm) extends with a hand turned / cut thread. The base of the figurine is irregular with large amounts of iron staining, remnants of a fitting are possible although corrosion product makes it difficult to define.The terminal measures 19.5 mm long, 41.1 mm wide and is 9.2 mm thick. It weighs 10.1 grams. The terminal is a mid green colour, with an even surface patina.During the late 18th Century, multi-tools were developed, consisting of a combined ring, tamper and bowl cleaner as an accessory for the clay tobacco pipe. The outer shell of this multi-tool could be unscrewed to expose a corkscrew-like spike for reaming the pipe bowl. The iron staining at the base of the screw thread on this terminal, would suggest that it came from one of these corkscrew like spikes from a multi-tool (Bailey, 1992, p63). Several similar multi-tool terminals have been recorded on the PAS database, although this seems to be the first example of a fish. The other examples include: HESH-AC7226; NARC-C075E3; WMID-06A494; PUBLIC-752242; HESH-023804 and PUBLIC-B3C467.Reference:Bailey, G. 1992. Detector Finds. Greenlight Publishing. Witham.
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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