Exchanging Medieval Material Culture Studies on archaeology and ...

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Mark Redknap
27 Förster & Jöns 2003, 14; see fi g. 4: 6 and
Appendix 2, no. 89.
28 Förster & Jöns 2003, 14.
Fig. 2 Early depictions of tripod ewers: a: from Archaeologia 1774 (Closeburn Castle); b: from Archaeological Journal
1856 (Norwich).
being early fi nds, though one example in the British Museum
(1902-5-24.1) can now be attributed to Sandon in Essex
(Appendix 2, no. 37). Appendix 2 now lists 68 provenanced
examples and 42 unprovenanced examples for Group Bb, and
no doubt more await incorporation.
Of particular signifi cance for chronology, function and spread
of Group Bb is the tripod ewer discovered on the wreck of the
Darss cog, lost off the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in
the Ostsee27 (fi g. 5: 6). Recent excavation and analysis has established
that the cog was built aft er 1293 in southern Baltic (the
Weichsel Estuary). A barrel of sulphur provided a felling date
of 1335, providing a terminus post quem for the sinking. Other
metal vessels found on the cog, which appears to have had a
cargo of roof tile and Norwegian whetstones as well as sulphur,
include a number of cast copper-alloy tripod cauldrons or
Grapen, one bearing a casting mark of Lübeck28. Th is tightlydated
assemblage confi rms that the Group Bb ewer, once
thought to have emerged towards the end of the 14th century,
was popular during the fi rst half of the century (thus supporting
the evidence of manuscript sources)29. Th e appearance of a
Group Bb ewer onboard this cargo vessel illustrates the highly
portable nature of such objects: the ship appears to have been
trading between Norway via Skagerrak and the Baltic. Postexcavation
analysis still needs to determine why the object was
on board – such as personal belongings, private trade, ship’s
equipment. At which port of call it was acquired is not known,
though direct Hanseatic trade with Britain is one possibility.
29 Lewis 1978, 28.
30 Lewis et al. 1987, 89.
31 Finlay 1996, 4.
Metal vessels appear to become more common in households
during the 14th century, and documentary evidence such as
the Worcester Court Rolls has suggested that by the second
half of the 14th century such vessels appear to have become
standard equipment even in peasant households30. Group B
ewers were therefore popular from at least the early 14th century,
and remained in use into early 15th century. In households
remote from the pressures of maintaining fashion, tripod ewers
may have remained in use for lengthy periods. Group A and E
ewers have also been dated through comparisons of the letter
forms used in their inscriptions with those of English bellfounders,
such as Richard de Wymbish and William Revel31.
Dating of the later tripod ewer types has been recognized as
problematic32, and detailed consideration is beyond the scope
of this paper. An exception is the Group A spouted tripod ewer
from Gnoien, Mecklenberg, which has marks inside the rim
also found on a bell dated 1435, and presumably cast by the
same master33. In summary, Groups F and G tripod ewers with
swan-neck spouts, some with lids, have legs ending in elegant
paw feet, and appear to have been in circulation during the
15th and early 16th centuries (similar animal-head terminals
also appearing on lavabos of this date). Th e popularity of the
swan neck spout on ewers of various forms is illustrated by the
depiction of a double-spouted example in Roger van der
Weyden’s central triptych panel Th e Annunciation of c. 1435-
1440, which shows its use in a bedroom34, and Th e Virgin of the
Annunciation, once attributed to Hans Memlinc (1465-94) but
32 Th euerkauf-Liederwald 1988, 176.
33 Ibid., 183; Appendix 2, no. 5.
34 Paris, Louvre, inv. no. 1982.