VESSEL

A Medieval or Post Medieval (12th to mid 19th centuries) cooking vessel leg: In plan the leg is an elongated triangle with the tip forming the foot. The upper terminal has obliquely angled sides which have broken edge, and the actual surface is smooth and forms the interior surface of the vessel. In section the leg is sub-triangular with the back face being concave. The surface has a mottled mid to dark green patina with patches of a carbon build up. The interior surface is a shiny mid grey colour. The leg measures 58.81mm tall, 33.39mm wide and 24.3mm thick. It weighs 87.8g.

It is uncertain what type of vessel this leg comes from, but Egan (1998) comments that commonly used cooking vessels in the Medieval period include skillets, ewers, and cauldrons. According to Butler, Green and Payne (2009), "From about AD 1100, cast copper alloy vessels...were commonly used for downhearth cooking, with the vessel sitting among the embers or suspended over the fire. All but the poorest medieval or post-medieval households would have had at least one metal cooking vessel....These vessels gradually passed out of use between 1700 and 1850, superseded by cast iron pots...".

Butler, R., Green, C. and Payne, N. 2009 'Cast copper-alloy cooking vessels' Finds Research Group AD700-1700 Datasheet 41

Egan G. 1998 The Medieval Household Daily Living c. 1150-c.1450 Museum of London, London, The Stationary Office