Charles Ede Ltd (London), Antiquities 149 (1989) no. 58 (ill.).

1989.03

Tinned Bronze Spoon

Purchased. Formerly in the collection of R.A. Hattatt; said to have been excavated at The Poultry in London in October 1928. Total length 10.7cm; width of bowl 3.7cm.

Bronze spoon of shallow ovoid form, its handle folded back on itself. The surface is tinned in imitation of silver. In fairly good condition; the surface is worn back to the bronze on the edge of the bowl and over much of the handle. The surface of the bowl preserves many striations from its original working. The handle is thin and fine and of roughly semicircular section; it terminates in a stylised duck’s head.

Late 4th century AD.

Compare 1976.04 (also in our collection), and see D. Strong, Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate (London 1966) 205. There is also a good collection of bronze spoons published with useful discussion and further references in V. Galliazzo, Bronzi romani del Museo Civico di Treviso (Rome 1979) 183-187; also G. Zampieri and B. Lavarone (eds), Bronzi antichi del Museo Archeologico di Padova (Rome 2000) 198-204 nos 397-406.

The excavation was conducted by a team from the Guildhall Museum at the corner of Princes Street, Mansion House Street and Poultry (London EC 2) at the time of the construction of the National Provincial Bank (later taken over by the Midland Bank and then the HSBC). It is opposite Mansion House. Revealed were “a structure consisting of 9-inch piles on the tops of which rested horizontally baulks of timber 12 in by 12 in. The direction of these timbers was very nearly north-east to south-west and the surface formed by them - perhaps a landing stage or embankment beside the Walbrook stream - was 28 feet below the present pavement level of the street. Driven into one of these piles was an iron chisel, stamped with the name of its maker; it is interesting to note that this tool differs but slightly from the modern pattern. Another interesting discovery was a large stone adze of neolithic or early bronze age, about BC 2000. Also reported on were: an Iron Age brooch, the upper stone of a Roman flour-mill of Mediterranean type dated to 1st c, a foot-rule and a lead curse, both Roman, and, for the Saxon period, a small scramasax and an iron spearhead.”

The excavation was never fully published but there are brief accounts in the Guildhall Library Annual Report 1929, in R.G. Collingwood and M.V. Taylor, “Roman Britain in 1928”, Journal of Roman Studies 18, 1928, 203-204 (where the grindstone is illustrated), and rather more fully in E.B. Birley, “Report on Recent Excavations in London”, Antiquaries Journal 9, 1929, 219-228 (where the grindstone is illustrated again). The last kept an eye on the excavation throughout. The finds were mostly of the Flavian and Antonine periods although there was no clear stratigraphy.

None of them records our spoon, nor is there any mention of it in the archives preserved at The London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC)

http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/English/ArchiveResearch/ where the site is registered as GM 330. One suspects that the bronze dress pins 1973.31 (also in our collection) were also excavated here.

For recent work in the area of the Walbrook, see in particular J. Leary and J. Butler, Roman Archaeology in the Upper Reaches of the Walbrook Valley. Excavations at 6-8 Tokenhouse Yard, London EC2 (London 2012) (particularly good on leather, wood, bone, pollen etc.) and then the thorough J. Hill and P. Rowsome (eds), Roman London and the Walbrook Stream Crossing. Excavations at 1 Poultry and Vicinity, City of London, i-ii (London 2011) with its wide variety of finds, and, at ii, 414-437, an excellent account of timber, its selection, woodworking and joinery. There has recently been a publication of excavations at the nearby cemetery: C. Harward, N. Powers and S. Watson, The Upper Walbrook Valley Cemetery of Roman London: Excavations at Finsbury Circus, City of London, 1987-2007 (MOLA Monograph, 69, London 2015).

The popular book by P. Rowsome, Heart of the City: Roman, Medieval and Modern London revealed by Archaeology at 1 Poultry (London 2000), includes some interesting information on archaeological activity in the area over the last two centuries at 84-87. For a good introductory treatment of Britain more generally, see R. Jackson and R. Hobbs, Roman Britain: Life at the Edge of Empire (London 2010).

Charles Ede Ltd (London), Antiquities 149 (1989) no. 58 (ill.).