Quote:
...they also found a large piece of a German stoneware vessel, which likely would have been used for drinking ale.
“It was a utilitarian jug that most colonists would have had,” Schmidt said.
Many Bartmann jugs, this one included, feature an applied medallion that often depicts a coat of arms. This particular medallion shows two rampant lions, which is probably the symbol of the town where the jug was made or wealthy European family who had it commissioned, Schmidt said.
“We can safely say that this jug was made either in the late 16th or early 17th century, but knowing the meaning of that symbol will give us an even tighter date,” he said. “We have yet to trace this particular one, but when we do we will learn when the jug was made”...
Too bad only one of the quarters (maybe two if you have better eyes) are pictured. It would be fun to try to determine the arms pictured.
That second quarter looks either like knots of cord or butterflies.
Reminds me of two National Geographic articles and a book a few years back re: similar digs at Wolstonholm Town a few miles down river.
Here is a link to a television documentary about Jamestown, including footage of archaeologists unearthing another piece of armorial pottery: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365610176/
...the arms can be seen at 12:18-12:31 and appear to be a complicated design. Can anyone here identify the arms?
Thanks!
Four quarters, each with a lion rampant, makes me think of Hainaut, but I don’t recognize the inescutcheon.
I’ve read in some of the articles on archaeology at Jamestown that the arms impressed into pottery are often those of the town or province where the piece was made, frequently on the Continent.