POST MEDIEVAL TOY

1600

Cast lead alloy (possibly pewter) toy / miniature dish of probable post medieval date (1600-1800 AD). The plate is cast in one piece; it has a slight raised foot ring that expands out into a slightly faceted bowl / dish which is decorated both on the external and internal faces. The best preserved design is present on the internal face where the base of the dish is decorated with five pellets (forming a flower) around a larger central pellet. The edges of the bowl are decorated with radiating lines which divide the plate into even wedges. The panel wedges are further decorated but this is lost through corrosion. The exterior is similarly decorated with radiating lines forming panels, each panel has three pellets within arranged in a triangular pattern. The rim is complete; but heavily abraded. The dish is a mid brownish grey colour and the surface is slightly laminating. The rim has small amounts of white coloured corrosion present. A direct parallel for this pattern of design has not been found. It is similar to a number of items of tableware from London (Egan 2005).The toy dish measures 28.9mm diameter, is 5.2mm high, and 1.5mm thick. It weighs 4.47 grams.