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KNIFE
Unique ID: LON-0F1E28
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A Post Medieval zoomorphic knife handle, made from animal skeletal material (bone or ivory), dating to the late 16th century. This knife handle tapers towards the socket for the knife; it is oval in cross-section and the terminal is carved to form a three-dimensional zoomorphic head, probably depicting a horse. The handle is hollowed to approximately half-way along its length to accommodate the tang of the knife. Part of the socket and part of the zoomorphic terminal is broken and missing. The body of the handle is decorated with bands of 3 parallel lines. Of the zoomorphic head the neck, mouth and mane are surviving. The detail on the head is marked by carved lines, for example, one diagonal line marks the jaw and the mane is depicted by a series of transverse short lines. The head is also decorated with two ring and dot motifs on each side of the head; one on the side of the face and one on the neck.
This knife handle fits within the panoply of this kind of carving for the late 16th century. T is similar in style to LON-A2DDE5 and LVPL-088561 although both are anthropomorphic rather than zoomorphic.
Dimensions: length: 61.20mm; width at the widest part: 14.27mm; thickness: 7.87mm; weight: 5.94g.
Class: Handle
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1550
Date to: Circa AD 1600
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 61.2 mm
Width: 14.27 mm
Thickness: 7.87 mm
Weight: 5.94 g
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Animal skeletal material
Completeness: Incomplete
Spatial metadata
Region: London (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Greater London Authority (Greater London Authority)
District: City and County of the City of London (London Borough)
Parish or ward: Queenhithe (London Borough Ward)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: TQ3280
Four figure Latitude: 51.503528
Four figure longitude: -0.099555
1:25K map: TQ3280
1:10K map: TQ38SW
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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