File:A sherd from a North Italian Marbled (marmorizzata) bichrome lion headed costrel (fiascha da viaggio), dating from AD1600-1650. (FindID 817101).jpg

English: A sherd from a North Italian Marbled (marmorizzata) bichrome lion headed costrel (fiascha da viaggio), dating from AD1600-1650. The sherd consists of one of the lion head lugs and from either a ovoid or baluster shaped costrel. The fabric is a fine pale red earthenware, the exterior has a red and white bichrome slip which is then glazed, the interior is mostly unglazed but has some glaze which has run down the inside.

Similar lion heads can be seen attatched to costrels in Hurst, Neal and van Beuningenm (1986:37 Fig.15) and Blake (1981:109 Plate 8.VI). The British Museum has similar costrels in its collection, Museum No.1855,0512.11, 1887,0210.88 and 1896,0201.51.

Dimensions: length: 66.54mm; width: 67.16mm; weight: 46.44g

Other lion headed costrels on the database are LON-915A31, LON-9ABEE5 and PUBLIC-799B2B.

Moore Valeri (2013:12) writes "Starting in the last quarter of the 16th century, marbleized pottery also became an important export. In relation to this, it is curious to observe that the first and most precisely dated finds of Tuscan marbleized pottery occurred in Great Britain - more than 50 different sites - and even in the British colony of Virginia in North America, in a context dated 1620- 1640 (Hurst et al 1986, 33) - and in Holland where it has been identified in numerous contexts dated from 1575 to 1650 (ibid 33-37; Baart 1985, 161-186, gs.24- 25). These finds consist of simple bowls and basins with a curled rim and a particular type of pilgrim's flask with four loops on the sides that British scholars call lion-headed costrels (Hurst et al 1986, 37, Berti 1997, 376, Tipo Cc 2 and g. 33/4) (Figure 2)."

Blake (1981:105) writes "So far few marbled closed forms have been found in north Tuscany and Liguria. Wide costrels like one found at Southampton may have come from Lombardy (Platt and Coleman-Smith, 1975; 181 no. 1364) (Figs. 8.4, 8.5(1); Plates 8.III-IV). The narrow costrels covered with a red-brown slip, which have been found by chance in many British towns, have as yet.no close parallel in Italy (Figure 8. 6; Plate 8. VI)."

References: Moore Valeri A., 2013. Marbleized Pottery in Tuscany (1550-1650). Medieval Ceramics, 33, 10-26.

Hurst, J. G., Neal, D. S. and van Beuningen, H.J.E. 1986. Pottery produced and traded in North-West Europe 1350-1650. Rotterdam papers six.

Blake, H. 1981. Pottery Exported from Northwest Italy between 1450 and 1830: Savona, Albisola, Genoa, Pisa and Montelupo, Archaeology and Italian Society: Prehistoric Roman and Medieval Studies, G. Baker & R. Hodges, editors, British Archaeological Reports International Series, CII (1981), 99-124.

Platt, C. and Coleman-Smith, R., 1975. Excavations in Medieval Southampton 1953-1969. 2. The Finds. Leicester, University Press.