AMPULLA

Unique ID: LVPL-749D11

Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation

Notes:

Brian Spencer, formerly Senior Keeper at the Museum of London, who made a life-time study of ampullae, has written: 'Ampullae or miniature phials were an important kind of souvenir. Generally flask-shaped, but with a narrow, flattish section, they were designed to contain a dose of the thaumaturgic water that was dispensed to pilgrims at many shrines and holy wells. Ampullae were made of tin or lead or tin-lead alloy and were provided with a pair of handles or loops so that they could be suspended from a cord or chain around the wearer's neck. Coming into use in the last quarter of the twelfth century, they were, in England, almost the only kind of pilgrim souvenir to be had during the thirteenth century. They were nevertheless available at a number of shrines, and thanks to returning pilgrims or to local entrepreneurs, probably featured as secondary relics in virtually every thirteenth-century English parish church.' (Spencer 1990, 57-58).

Subsequent actions

Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder

Chronology

Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1350
Date to: Circa AD 1530

Dimensions and weight

Quantity: 1
Length: 44 mm
Width: 29 mm
Weight: 40.35 g

Discovery dates

Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 1st June 2017 - Saturday 12th August 2017

Personal details

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Materials and construction

Primary material: Lead
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete