VESSEL

Late Iron Age - early Roman copper alloy zoomorphic spout from a strainer bowl dating to the period c. AD 25 - 100. It comprises a concavo-convex D-shaped plate with the spout projecting from the centre. The spout is in the form of an animal head, probably a dog or bear. It has short pointed ears sitting on either side of the head and prominent moulded brows, the eyes indicated by two punched annulets. The snout terminates in a blunt nose, the lower jaw extending outwards and down to form the oval spout. The animal's fur is indicated by a series of moulded wavy lines. A series of moulded lines radiating from the animal's ears around the underside of the spout may be intended to indicate a ruff of fur around its neck.

The reverse of the D-shaped plate has a slightly raised edge with traces of residue from the sheet copper alloy vessel and possible traces of solder.

This artefact finds good parallels in other wine strainers found in Britain, notably that from the Crownthope vessel hoard (HER 8897, NWHCM : 1982.464.7) and one of the strainers from the Kingston Deverill vessel hoard (WILT-92B052), both described as being in the form of dog heads.

Sealey (in Brown 1999, 119 - 124) discussed the development and chronology of spouted strainer bowls. He noted that they appear to have been a British product, citing the modification of an imported Roman vessel found as part of a rich burial at Welwyn Garden City and the dense concentration of strainer bowls in both ceramic and bronze seen in south eastern England compared to the European mainland, most of which fall outside the boundaries of the Roman Empire. He stated that they are likely to have fallen out of fashion around the time of the Boudiccan revolt, although a small number of examples have been recovered from late 1st - 2nd century contexts.

Height: 50.5mm, maximum width: 65.5mm, minimum width: 14.5mm, length of spout: 42.3mm, maximum width of spout: 35mm, diameter of spout mouth: 20.7mm, internal diameter: 12.7mm, weight: 77.4g.