VESSEL

An incomplete curved copper alloy handle for a vessel, probably dating to the post-medieval period, however it has not yet been directly paralleled and an earlier date cannot be ruled out. The handle is triangular in cross section with a slghtly convex curved inner face and ridge running down the centre of the upper face. It narrows from the break at one end to the break at the other. At the bottom thinner end there is a raised section on the front that may have been part of the decoration or indicate the start of the terminal. The curve of this fragment can give an indication as to the large size of vessel that it would have been attached to but it appears to be a slightly flattened curve rather than circular so the exact dimensions are hard to estimate..

On the upper face is incised decoration formed of a series of horizontal and diagonal lines. One horizontal line is visible at the top, another two are located approximately one third down and another two approximately two thirds of the way down on the handle. In between these horizontal lines are diagonal lines that start at the edges of one line and meet in the middle of the next line down creating V shapes. The inner surface is plain.

At the thinner end a white core shows through where something may have gone wrong during casting of the object. The core appears a white substance, either a more highly leaded part of the alloy or possibly part of the mould material.

The handle measures 101.5mm in length. It is much wider at one end measuring 15.3mm at one end and 8.2mm at the other. Its maximum thickness is 8.7mm and it weighs 55.46g.

The form of the handle suggests it fitted a large open vessel such as a cauldron.