PAS Finds (w/e 23/06/23) – Jester
My selection of the detecting finds recorded at the PAS in the week ended 23 June 2023.
Featured Find
Jester châtelaine
A strap fitting in the form of a jester’s head which is thought to date to the 15th/16th century. It’s likely function is a châtelaine, with the loop at the bottom to suspend keys of other accoutrements.
On a very similar find in 2022, Rob Webley, former PASt Explorers Project Officer at the British Museum and current post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Exeter, commented that only seven other are known from England and four from France. It is therefore a Find of Note.
Ship of Fortune
The late Geoff Egan commented on one of those previous finds “I think this jester is, … end of Medieval/16th century. Not only the patina but the form of what may be a ‘strap end’ (for a very special costume) or if too large for that some kind of attachment, perhaps actually to a fool’s bauble. Jesters seem to have got into the repertoire of general motifs around that time – on ceramic whistles and knife handles.” The book ‘The Ship of Fools’ appeared in English in 1509 and may have contributed to this popularity“
Selection of other finds
Needham’s Class 5 axe
