Record ID: SF-366271
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Suffolk
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A complete glass early medieval to medieval 'linen smoother' or 'slick-stone'. It is a flattened sub-circular shape with rounded sides. Both faces are convex, but the upper has a deep, irregular, sub-circular depression, c.20mm in diameter, in its centre where the object was separated from the maker's rod during production. The material is often described as 'black' glass, although in actually fact it is a very dark green colour and there is an iridescent patina on the surface. There is some damage and pitting to the surface with flakes missin…
Created on: Tuesday 15th November 2022
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd November 2022
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Bungay', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: DYFED-8E3F67
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Pembrokeshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Object is an incomplete glass, Linen Smoother dating to the Post Medieval Period (c. AD 1700-1800). The linen smoother consists of a concave base, which is very smooth and has scratches from wear which has made the glass become opaque. The handle consists of globes of glass (6 in total) to aid with grip, the top part of the handle has broken but its transparent in comparision to the base. Overall the glass is smooth, but has signs of use, the glass is in good condition but appears to have some bubbles from the manufacturing process. The glass is a dark bottle green colour. The smoothe…
Created on: Thursday 2nd December 2021
Last updated: Friday 3rd December 2021
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'St. Mary Out Liberty', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: KENT-137AD5
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Greater London Authority
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete Post-Medieval glass linen smoother dating from c.AD 1500-1850. Description: The smoother survives as roughly half of the circular body of the smoother, with a domed smoothing surface and a concave reverse with central dimple where the handle would have been attached. The linen smoother is heavily affected by the glass deterioration manifesting in iridescence (the rainbow affect, dulling (loss of original colour) and a thick brown opaque weathering crust. The crust is heavily fracture and begriming to come away in many places leaving the surface flaky and revealing a v…
Created on: Wednesday 12th December 2018
Last updated: Monday 17th December 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: IOW-013BE5
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Isle of Wight
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A post-Medieval glass linen smoother (c. 1500-c. 1900). It is unclear whether this smoother is incomplete or was made as such. This dark green translucent smoother is semi-circular in plan, domed at the front and hollow at the rear. The domed surface is very smooth and the straight edge (not a break) is flat and as smooth as the domed surface. At the front a flake chipped from the edge has conchoidal fracturing. The rear face has two flakes chipped which also have conchoidal fracturing and could be related to a pontil scar. There is no indication that a handle existed. The ob…
Created on: Monday 17th September 2018
Last updated: Tuesday 18th September 2018
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Isle of Wight', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NLM-979034
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Stone probable linen smoother. Fine compacted sandstone water-rolled pebble, collected, utilised and glossed by wear, more markedly on one side than the other. The size, fitted well to the hand, and the wear, resemble those characteristic of linen smoothers. These were made especially from glass in the Anglo-Scandinavian period, or from suitably fine-grained stones. They were used as rubbers to smooth linen in the later stages of its manufacture. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 850-1100. Diameter: 76mm, Thickness: 22.5mm, Weight: 192.87gms
Created on: Monday 13th November 2017
Last updated: Monday 13th November 2017
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'near Market Rasen', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: LANCUM-FF279C
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: North Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete glass linen smoother used to give linen a shiny gloss. Probably dating from the medieval or post-medieval period, that is c. 14th-17th century AD. Similar examples have been found in early medieval assemblages, e.g. at Cumwhitton, Cumbria. Approximately half of the linen smoother survives. The edge is rounded and very smooth, leading onto one flat surface and the other slightly concave with a broken 'stalk' in the centre which would have been attatched to a handle but no longer survives. Made from glass which was likely a dark colour such as black or dark blue. but now h…
Created on: Friday 25th August 2017
Last updated: Thursday 31st August 2017
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'York', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: LON-CF3234
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Greater London Authority
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete Post-Medieval glass linen smoother handle dating from AD1700-1800. The remaining smoother handle is made from a dark coloured glass consists of three bulges to aid grip. The handle is broken at both ends and is missing at one end the polished bun-shaped glass disk used to smooth the linen. Dimensions: length: 66.36mm; width: 27.65mm; weight: 81.69g. Similar linen smoothers on the database are LON-493C48 and BERK-9BCBC7.
Created on: Wednesday 4th January 2017
Last updated: Saturday 20th May 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: WILT-B67A58
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Wiltshire
Workflow stage: Published
A stone possible linen smoother of uncertain date. The artefact is a large pebble which has been ground or polished flat to make it cuboid. One surface is highly polished and a darker red colour than the rest of the stone which is a matte dark brown-red with veins of a darker mineral running through it. The object measures 61.34mm in height, 54.68mm in width, is 55.16mm thick and weighs 240g.
Created on: Wednesday 12th August 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd September 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: YORYM-656D6A
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: East Riding of Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A complete glass linen smoother of post-medieval date. The linen smoother is made of a black glass and is circular in plan with a sub-D-shaped section, being convex on one face and slightly flattened with a concave central element on the opposite. Within the circular depression is a broken knob which represents the remains of the handle and would have been formed as the smoother was separated from the maker's glass rod. The surface of the glass is patchy iridescent and is heavily abraded with a large flake chipped from one edge. Glass linen smoothers are known to have been in us…
Created on: Monday 26th January 2015
Last updated: Monday 2nd February 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NLM-6719B0
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: North Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Fine-grained Sandstone cobble linen smoother or muller. A handy fragment knapped from a water-smoothed cobble, with the broken face trimmed flat and smoothed by heavy wear, and the other faces smoothed by handling. The use of both improvised and purpose-made smoothers for the finishing of leather or textiles, and the use of mullers for the grinding of vegetable matter for craft or culinary use, is known through Prehistory to the end of the Early Medieval period. A parallel to this example was excavated from 12th-century deposits at Lurk Lane, Beverley (Armstrong et. al. 1991, page 110…
Created on: Thursday 10th October 2013
Last updated: Wednesday 10th February 2021
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-C167A7
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An undated possible linen smoother. A rectangular block of black flint, 85 x 60 x 40mm, with a patch of cortex on one face. It is otherwise roughly trimmed by percussion except for one face which is highly polished. The polished face shows fine striations, mostly longitudinal but a few transverse, and is rounded at the edges. An unusual and puzzling object.
Created on: Tuesday 24th May 2011
Last updated: Tuesday 24th May 2011
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Beeston with Bittering', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: LVPL-5E9841
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: ROMAN
County: North Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A probable linen smoother or polishing stone of Roman to Post-Medieval date. It is circular in plan. The stone measures 55.94mm in diameter and is 35.21mm thick. It is round and smooth on all surfaces. The base of the stone has been slightly flattened due to ware. It is 152.5g in weight.
Created on: Thursday 7th January 2010
Last updated: Tuesday 1st November 2011
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'NORTH YORKSHIRE', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: BERK-9BCBC7
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Oxfordshire
Workflow stage: Published
A spherical dark glass smoother used to give linen a shiny gloss. This type of linen smoother had an integral and indented central glass handle, which no longer survives, and has a concave base and convex top. It is similar to 18th century examples that also have intgreal glass handles.
Created on: Thursday 30th October 2008
Last updated: Thursday 5th July 2018
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Chalgrove', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NMGW-799DA3
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: Isle of Anglesey
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Utilised and decorated stone, possibly a slick-stone or linen-smoother of 9th or 10th century date The stone is domed with a flat base and has a maximum diameter of 97.93mm and a height of 51.35mm. The stone is a quartz conglomerate. The top of the stone has been decorated with an oval ring with dimensions: 43.5mm x 37.8mm (internal diameter: 12.3 – 13.9mm). Analysis using a scanning electron microscope indicated that the inlay is composed of calcium carbonate and red ochre. The decoration has been inlaid into a recessed channel in the stone, formed by polishing. The base of the …
Created on: Friday 13th January 2006
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: LON-493C48
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Greater London Authority
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Circular glass linen smoother with lightly convex top and indented central stem on reverse (broken). The surface has an outer crust but the glass appears to have been dark in colour (blue-green or black). One large chip is missing from the surface.
Created on: Wednesday 23rd November 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Bull Wharf', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: LIN-473217
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: ROMAN
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete glass linen smoother. Approximately a quarter of the linen smoother survives. The edge is rounded and very smooth, leading onto one flat surface and the other slightly concave. In profile the smoother curves, and probably was circular when complete
Created on: Wednesday 25th May 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'North Kesteven', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: ESS-F61DD5
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: Essex
Workflow stage: Published
Complete, glass linen smoother. This linen smoother is made from black glass and is circular in plan and a flattened kidney shape in section, being clearly domed on one face and slightly flattened and countersunk on the opposite. Within this countersunk, circular depression are the clear remains of the ‘stalk’ of glass where the smoother was separated by twisting from the maker’s glass rod. The surface has a patchy iridescent quality. It is heavily abraded, with a significant flake of glass chipped from one side on the domed underside. The abrasion and chipped area are worn, sugg…
Created on: Monday 9th May 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Great Bromley', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: IOW-02B941
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Isle of Wight
Workflow stage: Published
A complete post-Medieval glass linen smoother (1500-1900). Diameter 64mm and 39mm thick. Weight 242.12g. The black coloured smoother is circular in plan and when viewed from the side it is dome-shaped. On the underside is a circular recess in the form of a "push-up" similar to those on blown glass bottles that pre-date circa 1845. The recess is about 32mm in diameter. Within the recess is a scar that was formed when the pontil was detached from the smoother following the shaping on a marver. Around the rim of the recess is a flattened area which was created when the smoother was res…
Created on: Thursday 9th September 2004
Last updated: Monday 17th September 2018
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Chale Parish', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NARC-5F4FD3
Object type: LINEN SMOOTHER
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Published
A linen smoother or polishing stone. The stone is sub-circular, 65 mm in diameter, and of a chert-like composition. It was presumably simply a glacial pebble which was the ideal size for use as a tool. One surface has been struck by the plough, which has created a lineal scar on the pebble. The opposite surface has been worn flat and is incredibly smooth, where it has been used during polishing or the smoothing of clothes.
Created on: Tuesday 9th December 2003
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.