File:Medieval chafing dish handle and rivet (FindID 886891).jpg

English: Two fragments of an incomplete copper-alloy chafing dish handle and rivet dating from the later medieval or early post-medieval period, (c. 15th-16th century AD)

The loop handle is approximately trapezoidal in plan with bevelled edges both inside and out. The upper surface of the handle is decorated with regularly-spaced incised dots. There is a separate free-moving attachment loop located on the flattened edge of the handle. The loop is approximately oval in plan, with a waisted neck and a circular projection. This would have originally been attached to the wall of the vessel to allow the handle to hang freely.

Margeson (1983) notes that similar forms of handle are found on both 15th/16th century chafing dishes and cupboard doors. Illustrated in Norwich Households is a similar example (no 491) which is dated to the Late medieval and Early Post Medieval period. Bailey (2000:p.59) also illustrates similar examples (Fig.8) dating to the 15th to 18th centuries. He also illustrates an example of a complete chafing dish (Type A) with heart shaped attachment handles.

Bailey, G., (2000) Finds identified : Greenlight Detector finds.

Margeson, S.M., (1993) Norwich Households: Medieval and Post-Medieval Finds from Norwich Survey Excavations 1971-78. East Anglian Archaeology Report No.58. Norwich, Norwich Survey/Norfolk Museums Service.