FOLDING KNIFE

A complete copper-alloy Roman folding knife handle; the iron blade remains only as rust attached to part of the handle. The openwork handle is broadly rectangular in plan and cross section depicting a stylised hound chasing a hare. At the blade end there is vertical rectangular panel with probably pairs of moulded vertical ribs flanking a wider plain section on both faces. The iron has covered much of the detail of the pair of ribs further from the end. The blade would have been attached to this end by an iron rivet and hinged in the slot which runs up through the entire panel from the lower edge, giving it an upside down U shape in cross section. A small projection from the top of this panel, by one of the ribs is the tip of the hounds tail.

Extending from the panel is the openwork scene, both animals running away from the rectangular panel on a ground line The ground line and the animals have a slot down the centre for the knife blade, filled with iron corrosion. This slot becomes shallower towards the end of the handle where it is a small indent. The ground line seems complete and ends in a squared off end. The openwork animals are depicted in mid stride with the hound just grasping the tail of the hare. The hound has a tail that curves upwards, sub-oval shaped body with arched back and extended legs, and an elongated snout with moulded transverse ridges representing the ears (a double ridge), eyes and nostrils. The details of the back legs and some of the openwork are obscured by iron corrosion. The hare is smaller, with an oval shaped body shorter legs and flattened nose with moulded triangular ears on both sides of the head that appear to be swept backwards, and a prominent brow ridge. The entire object has a green patina.

The folding knife handle is 69.9mm in length, 28.3mm wide including the iton corrosion, c. 21mm wide excluding it, 6.5mm thick excluding the iron corrosion and and weighs 31.56 grams.

This is an incomplete Roman folding knife of hound and hare type. Compasison with other examples, both complete and fragmentary recorded on the PAS database suggest this is complete, (e.g. SF-9E68A3, NMS-606F33, WILT-F07013, NMGW-A059EA) although examples with three animals are also known.. Complete examples are also published from Roman Richborough (Bushe Fox 1949: pl. XXXVI no. 118) and Thetford (Gregory, 1991: p. 131, fig. 117, no. 19).