LOT 0367

'The Harling' Medieval Bronze Handled Posnet Cauldron

14TH CENTURY A.D.

1 1/2 - 12 5/8 in. (3.1 kg total, 3.8-32 cm).

Shaped as a small cauldron with a long curved handle decorated with five incuse circles extending from the rim to the swan-head finial and with loop handle beneath; spherical body, slightly oblate at the base with an everted rim and casting seams, three splayed stub legs with ribbed profile; offered with objects recovered from the same archaeological context: a struck flint flake; two bone fragments; a fragment of pottery. [5]

Located whilst searching with a metal detector and archaeologically excavated by Norfolk Archaeology Unit, near Harling, Norfolk, UK, on Wednesday 8th November 2023.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.NMS-C1D619 which includes a photograph of the cauldron in situ before excavation.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12165-219623.

Exhibited at the Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 19th June-9th September 2024; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefacts on display.

A similar compete vessel is recorded on PAS database as LVPL-73F49, dated between 14th-16th century.

Bronze cauldrons played a role in ritual practices in the Middle Ages and beyond. It appears that many of the bronze cauldrons have been deliberately deposited, although the reasons for this were not always clear. There are strong indications that this often took place at the beginning of a large-scale project. This may have been the construction of a castle or a rampart, of a city wall, the building of a dyke, a dangerous crossing of the sea, the cultivation of a piece of farmland or the reclamation of a peat bog. For all types of projects, salvation and blessing could be requested in the form of a deliberate deposit of a bronze cauldron. This custom is directly comparable with the Medieval ritual of placing coins under the foundation stone of a building.