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SPOON
Unique ID: NLM-DC3483
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Lead alloy spoon fragment. Cast figurative knop from a decorated spoon stem. One side presents a human mask with prominent almond shaped eyes, long nose and a small mouth. The other side appears to be an infant wrapped in swaddling bands represented by cross-hatched relief, with a similarly rendered bonnet, pillow or nimbus projecting around its tiny face. When viewed in profile, the features surrounding the infant face also appear as hair on the back of the flattened head whose face is the most prominent feature, as a sort of visual pun.
Decorated spoons sometimes bear motifs which could bear religious significance, as might be apt to Christening spoons - three fishes [for the Trinity] on the inside of the bowls appear in both London (Egan 1998, fig. 194) and Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire (Spencer. B., in Evans and Tomlinson 1992, page 143, fig. 77 no. 174). They belong to a class of cheap lead alloy imitations of finer objects. The Beverley spoon is from an early 12th-century context though the floruit of such gewgaws is 13th-century. The London spoon has a human figure comparable in its style to the face on this example. The same crude style recurs on lead alloy toys of early post-medieval date. Suggested date: probably Medieval, 1200-1300.
Length: 28.4mm, Width: 11.9mm, Thickness: 5.1mm, Weight: 5.57gms.
Find of note status
This is a find of note and has been designated: County / local importance
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1200
Date to: Circa AD 1300
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 28.4 mm
Width: 11.9 mm
Thickness: 5.1 mm
Weight: 5.57 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 7th August 2014
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: NLM26054a
Materials and construction
Primary material: Lead Alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Decoration style: Figurative
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber (European Region)County or Unitary authority: North Lincolnshire (Unitary Authority)
District: North Lincolnshire (Unitary Authority)
To be known as: Bottesford
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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