91Èȱ¬

Excavated in 1955 by the Peverel Society, during excavations of the caves under the former Moot Hall, on Friar Lane in Nottingham. The jug was found in one of four undisturbed Medieval middens, or rubbish pits, and although incomplete has been carefully reconstructed. It was made from green glazed earthenware in Scarborough and depicts the popular Medieval passion for chivalry. It features a series of moulded relief knights on horseback, identified by their kite-shaped shields, and a spout in the form of a bearded man leaning forward as if on a window ledge or battlement. Below them on each side and also in relief, further decorative elements are thought to represent stags being attached by hounds, the former identified by their antlers. The association with hunting is another pursuit popular with the knights and would needed to hone their skill in horsemanship needed for warfare and the crusades. The jug would have also had a decorative lid, now sadly missing. Such a piece would have marked the pinnacle of the potters skill at the time of manufacture and are likely to have been made to order and only used only for specially occasions.