Museum of London Archaeology

After a hard fought battle which saw the highest number of votes for the competition this year, there was one object which pushed ahead of the rest of the pack.

And LAARC’s champion object of 2008 is….

The Children’s Whistle from Braidwood Street!

 

This spectacular object dates from the late 16th / early 17th Century and is pewter based. A small artefact, measuring only 45 x 31mm with a ring of 17mm, it is almost certainly inteded for a child although could easily have fit some adults too. The decoration consists of a double headed bird of prey with a continuation of the feather motif onto the tube giving the impression of its body. An egg and dart frieze decorates the top. It would have been produced in a three part mould with an additional part to make the hollow.

We think it a worthy winner of the object of the year title and a big thanks and congratualtions to those who voted. Next year’s competition will start up at the end of January, so to get your votes in be sure to check these pages out regularly or click on the “rss” button at the top of the page for updated activity. 

    

The first three winners of the year all came from the same site – excavations at the Royal Mint in 1986 (MIN86). January’s was a beautiful carved bit of sandstone with decorated floral motifs; February’s was a wooden bowling ball with four holes for the lead used to weight it;

 

March’s MIN86 winner was a carved column capital with guidelines for the arches above. Following that, April’s competition was a Tudor special and the winner was this fab child’s finger whistle decorated with two birds of prey. It dates from the late 16th Century and comes from Braidwell Street (BRA88);

   

May & June’s Winners were both delftware vessels; May’s was a 18th Century merry man plate from Althorpe Grove (AG75) which would have been the second in a set of six. June’s is also 18th Century and comes from the Fleet Valley excavations (VAL88). It depicts a cheeky little lion, possibly a reference to Charles I

  

July’s victor was a bone plaque depicting a griffin which would have been mounted to a box. It was found in 1988 at Dunster Court (MCT88). August’s triumph was the leather purse from 1974’s Trig Lane excavations (TL74). With two decorative roundals, it would have been sewn to a second part with a flap coming over the top to close it.

 

September’s success was a superb example of Roman Wall Plaster from Dominant House (DMT88). It would have been the top of a wall panel and is decorated with blue and yellow outlines on the red background. The first of the two October winners rediscovered during the LAARC VIP project was a post med lead spoon from Cutler’s Street (CUT78), with the inscription “Remember The Poore”

 

The second LAARC VIP winning object was this potter’s tool from Lambeth excavations in 1980 (L54/80), complete with wheel and made of iron. And the final winner is this medieval mould from Winchester Abbey excavations (WP84) which creates lion motifs.

It’s now up to you to decide which one wins the pretigious title of

OBJECT OF THE YEAR 2008!!!

Vote for your favourite object by clicking Here

The winner will be announced on these pages on Friday 12th December

 The two winners of this month’s double whammy competition are:

 The potter’s tool from Lambeth (L54/80). With a wheel at one end and a toothed edge the other this tool was used to create the decorative features on ceramics. It is made from iron and was thought to be lost for several years. However, as always, it turned up eventually last year. It was then rediscovered last month during the LAARC VIP project and nominated for the competition.

 The second winner is this superb post med lead alloy spoon. Found at Cutler Street near Bishopsgate, it bears the inscription “Remember the Poore”. Who would have owned it remains a mystery and one has to wonder whether they really did remember the poor when using it…

For more information about either of these sites visit LAARC’s online catalogue and search for the sitecode

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

  This month there’s a double whammy! As so many cool finds are resurfacing during the LAARC VIP project, we’ve a VIP objects special: 6 candidates, 2 winners.

 

1) A Roman Cheese Press made from ceramic and found in 1973’s Borough High Street Excavations (106BHS73)

2) A pewter tankard from Cutler Street (CUT73), with an inscription from a tavern in Bethnal Green

3) A plaque from Dean’s Yard, Westminster Abbey, (WAM75) originally from a knife cleaner

 4) Medieval Scissors from Baynards Castle (BC72)

5) Iron Potter’s Tool from Lambeth (L54/80)

6) Lead Spoon from Cutler Street, with the inscription “Remember the Poore”

 To vote for your TWO favourite objects click Here

To find out more about the excavations visit the LAARC catalogue

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

   

This month’s winner with an incredible 100% of votes, goes to the fabulous fragment of Roman painted wall plaster from Dominant House excavations in 1988 (DMT88)

Roman walls were usually decorated with large panels, within which were individual images of people, fruit, flowers or whatever the householder wanted on their wall. Colours were created using various pigments and on occasions we find chunks of wall, that have two or three layers of painted plaster, where they’ve redecorated their room!

In 2007, new excavations in Lime Street discovered more fantastic wall plaster fragments, some of the best ever found in the country. Both excavations shed light on Roman interior decoration. Changing Rooms, eat your heart out!

For more information about DMT88 visit LAARC’s online catalogue and search for DMT88

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

 Every month, LAARC volunteers choose 3 objects from the collections to enter our object of the month competition. This month we’ve three excellent objects:

The first object this month is from Dominant House and is an incredible large fragment of Roman painted wall plaster (DMT88)

The second is a fine medieval crucible from Sans Walk, St James Row (SNS87)

The third item is from Westminster Station excavations and is a post medieval ceramic watering can (WUS92)

 

Click Here To Vote

You can also view and find out more information about the objects on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laarc/sets/72157604281666414/

Finally to find out more about the sites they’re from visit our online catalogue:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Happy voting!

If you want to let us know exactly why you voted for an object, you can leave a comment below.

 

The winning object for August’s second chance / lucky loser month is this lovely leather purse from Trig Lane (TL74 <426>)

It is the front of a two piece purse, cut from deerskin and decorated with stitching in the form of two circular panels with two undulating lines on each side of the stitch. There’s also a horizontal slit cut below the top edge with four further slots beneath this, which would have had drawstrings threaded through.

Every month, LAARC volunteers choose 3 objects from the collections to enter our object of the month competition. This time round, we’re running a special “Lucky Loser!” month, where three previous 2nd place objects get a second chance to win gold and enter December’s Object of The Year Competition.

 The first object this month was originally nominated in January and is a leather purse from Trig Lane (TL74)

The second was first selected in May and is the Hebrew inscripted Delftware plate from Mitre Street (MIR84)

The third item is up for the second month in a row and is the biscuitware figurine from Hibernia Wharf (HIB79)

      

Click Here to vote

You can also view and find out more information about the objects on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laarc/sets/72157604281666414/

Finally to find out more about the sites they’re from visit our online catalogue:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Happy voting!

If you want to let us know exactly why you voted for an object, you can leave a comment below.

 This month’s winning object goes to the rather nice bone plaque from Dunster Court excavations of 1988. (MCT88)The carved plaque depicts a griffin and it’s use is uncertain. However, it may have  been mounted on a box or furniture. To find out more about the excavation, visit the LAARC’s online catalogue and search for MCT88. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Each month LAARC runs an Object Of The Month competition. Three artefacts are taken from the archive’s stores and put up for public vote to decide which goes on display in the Archive’s temporary exhibition case.

Competitions take place during the final week of each month. The winning object for this month will be announced on Friday 8th August.

July’s candidates selected by LAARC volunteers are:

1) A silver Roman Coin dating from the reign of Vespasian from Lime St (LIM83)

2) A bone plaque depicting a griffin from Dunster Court (MCT88)

3) A biscuitware figurine of a potter from Hibernia Wharf (HIB79)

          

Click Here to vote

You can also view and find out more information about the objects on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laarc/sets/72157604281666414/

Finally to find out more about the sites they’re from visit our online catalogue:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc/catalogue/

Happy voting!

If you want to let us know exactly why you voted for an object, you can leave a comment below.