MEDIEVAL MINIATURE OBJECT

1200

Miniature lead jug dating from the medieval period. The jug has a large body with narrowed neck, pinched lip and a strap handle, which is an accurate miniature portrayal of the large jugs common in the 13th and 14th century. The body of the jug is decorated with vertical bands of hatching, with pelleted bands between. The neck is decorated with a linear collar, and above that to the rim is a pattern of lozenges, each containing a pellet in the centre.Miniature lead jugs often closely resemble their pottery counterparts and are one of the more common miniature items known. They may have been used as childrens toys. According to Egan (1988) a stone mould for miniature jugs has been excavated from a medieval deposit at York Minster. Although this may suggest that they were used in churches, large numbers of miniature lead vessels have also been found in non-ecclesiastical contexts in London. A very similar example can be seen in Geoff Egans ‘Base-metal Toys’ Finds Research Group datasheet 10, Fig. 3.