SPATULA

Cast copper-alloy handle from a wax spatula, in the shape of the goddess Minerva. The head has a helmet with large crest, a raised oval on each side, and either a substantial rim or a roll of hair beneath. The face has a worn nose and the eyes are just visible. There are no arms, and there are two V-shaped grooves on the chest. The back has three rounded facets but no other decoration. Just above the waist of the figure are two transverse ridges which run right around both front and back. Below this the handle flares out and has a triangular facet on both front and back, before flattening and becoming rectilinear at the base. A transverse slot runs up the middle from the base, and in this the iron spatula blade would originally have been fixed. There is no trace of any rivet, solder or other fixing mechanism. The handle is now worn and corroded. Nina Crummy has recently produced a catalogue and discussion of wax spatula handles in the form of Minerva (Feugere type A5); this is now the 11th known from Britain, and the most easterly. The spatulas were used for smoothing down large areas of wax on writing tablets. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom and learning, so is appropriate for such an object, but Crummy also points out that when detached the handle functions perfectly well as a simple figurine of Minerva. As she was also a goddess of healing, it may then have been used as an amulet or votive offering.