Miniature cauldron

Description

Small three-legged pot or cauldron; copper alloy; fourteenth century ; cast in Lombardic capitals with the words 'NON CRAS DABOR' (I shall not be offered tomorrow). Found behind timbers in an old house in Wilmcote., In form this small vessel resembles working cauldrons of the 14th century, having a somewhat oblate spherical body and curved, rather than angular, lug handles. The legs are slightly set-in under the body. As there is no evidence of a flashline, it was almost certainly made using the lost wax process. Roderick Butler, who has studied copper alloy cauldrons and skillets, knows of only one other example of this form, which is in the British Museum (BM 1975,10-11).