File:Medieval, Incomplete Ampulla (FindID 813618).jpg
Original file (4,697 × 2,921 pixels, file size: 1.92 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Summary
editMedieval: Incomplete Ampulla | |||
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Photographer |
Birmingham Museums Trust, Teresa Gilmore, 2016-11-08 11:00:33 |
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Title |
Medieval: Incomplete Ampulla |
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Description |
English: An incomplete lead or lead alloy ampulla, of Medieval dating (AD 1300 to AD 1500).
Approximately 50% of the ampulla is present, consisting of the lower half of the vessel. The top of the vessel is missing, presumed lost in antiquity. In plan, it has a sub-circular base and the sides of the neck (now misshapen) flare slightly towards the mouth which is ragged and incomplete. The loops are missing. A crown is present on the front, and a four petalled flower on a hatched background is present on the reverse. It measures 28.5 mm in length, 29.2 mm wide and 5.4 mm thick. It weighs 18.8 g. The ampulla is a light to mid grey colour, with an even surface patina. Abrasion, caused by movement whilst within the plough soil, has resulted in a loss of some of the original surface detail. Ampullae were used as a flask to hold holy water, becoming a souvenir of a pilgrimage; they generally date to the late 12th to 15th centuries (Spencer, 1990, 57). The scallop design was the emblem of St. James the Greater from the 12th century, but became the generic symbol of pilgrimage itself, therefore representing all pilgrim saints and for all pilgrims (Spencer, 1990, 41). Ampullae are often found in rural areas which may reflect the folk practice such as burying the ampulla in fields to protect crops and livestock from illness (Spencer, 1990, 205). Brian Spencer, formerly Senior Keeper at the Museum of London, who made a life-time study of ampullae, also noted that 'Ampullae or miniature phials were an important kind of souvenir. Generally flask-shaped, but with a narrow, flattish section, they were designed to contain a dose of the thaumaturgic water that was dispensed to pilgrims at many shrines and holy wells. Ampullae were made of tin or lead or tin-lead alloy and were provided with a pair of handles or loops so that they could be suspended from a cord or chain around the wearer's neck. Coming into use in the last quarter of the twelfth century, they were, in England, almost the only kind of pilgrim souvenir to be had during the thirteenth century. They were nevertheless available at a number of shrines, and thanks to returning pilgrims or to local entrepreneurs, probably featured as secondary relics in virtually every thirteenth-century English parish church. Until the early fourteenth century, ampullae took various forms, were frequently inscribed and usually bore representations of the cult-figure or relic that they were intended to commemorate......Ampullae could be comfortably kept on the person or easily hung up in the home, or suspended , for the benefit of livestock, in the stable or cow shed or on the beehive. Ampullae were often donated to the neighbourhood, to be hung in the parish church. Almost as a matter of course, churches throughout thirteenth-century England secured possession of Canterbury ampullae containing what was perhaps the most famous of all elixirs, the water of St Thomas, tinged with the martyr's miracle-working blood' (Spencer, B. 1990, 57-58). Reference: |
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Depicted place | (County of findspot) Warwickshire | ||
Date |
between 1300 and 1500 date QS:P571,+1500-00-00T00:00:00Z/6,P1319,+1300-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1500-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 |
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Accession number |
FindID: 813618 Old ref: WMID-1AEE41 Filename: WMID1AEE41.jpg |
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Credit line |
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Source |
https://finds.org.uk/database/ajax/download/id/589195 Catalog: https://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/589195/recordtype/artefacts archive copy at the Wayback Machine Artefact: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/813618 |
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Permission (Reusing this file) |
Attribution License version 2.0 (verified 16 November 2020) |
Object location | 52° 09′ 23.04″ N, 1° 45′ 34.92″ W | View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap | 52.156400; -1.759700 |
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File history
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 12:17, 20 December 2018 | 4,697 × 2,921 (1.92 MB) | Fæ (talk | contribs) | Portable Antiquities Scheme, WMID, FindID: 813618, medieval, page 2916, batch count 8307 |
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Metadata
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Width | 3,599 px |
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Height | 2,597 px |
Bits per component |
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Compression scheme | Uncompressed |
Pixel composition | RGB |
Orientation | Normal |
Number of components | 3 |
Horizontal resolution | 300 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 300 dpi |
Data arrangement | chunky format |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 Windows |
File change date and time | 11:56, 7 November 2016 |
Exif version | 2.2 |
Supported Flashpix version | 1 |
Color space | sRGB |
Supported Flashpix version | 1 |
Image width | 4,697 px |
Image height | 2,921 px |
Date and time of digitizing | 11:56, 7 November 2016 |
Date metadata was last modified | 11:56, 7 November 2016 |
IIM version | 2 |