NOTES on SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL POTTERY 147 Coloured, Hard Sandy Fabric Associated with the Scarborough Kilns
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Note Scottisn so h Medieval Pottery by Lloyd R. Laing and W. Norman Robertson SCARBOROUGH WARE In 1965, in an appendix to the report on the excavations at Kildrummy Castle, Mr G C Dunning drew attention to several finds of Scarborough ware from Scotland. He also published a distribution map of known finds of this ware in Europe.1 Subsequently, Mr H Coutts of Dundee Museum published a further note on the Scarborough ware from Overgate, Dundee.2 These two notes together describe the finds from four sites in Scotland; Kildrummy Castle, Aberdeen- shire, Perth, Dunde Abbed ean t BathansyS , near Duns, Berwickshire. Sinc publicatioe eth thesf no e find attentior sou bees nha n draw fragmentno t s from thirteen other sites listed below (fi. g1) 1. HADDINGTON, East Lothian. Round-sectioned handle with reeding (Scarborough Types 6 and 8). 2. BRACKMOUNT FARM NEAR LEUCHARS, Fife. Body sherd. 3. TEALING, Angus. Body sherd, probably from Type 2 jug with applied strips. These three sherds are in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland; one is registered Cat no. MEA 4 (1946, 206), the other two are unmarked examples from the Daniel Henderson Collection NMAS. 4. GLENLUCE ABBEY, Wigtownshire. Tubular spout (Scarborough Type 7). MPBW site museum. Unpublished material. 5. STIRLING, Blackfriars Cemetery. Round-sectioned handle. Among pottery collected by Mr ADS Macdonald Dicn i kw InstituteNo . , Stirling. 6. RESTENNETH PRIORY, Angus. Body sherd of Type 18 jug with applied bands and scales. Now in NMAS. 7. ARBROATH ABBEY, Angus. Round-sectioned handle and body sherd. MPBW site museum. 8. DIRLETON CASTLE, East Lothian. Round-sectioned handle and body sherd. MPBW site museum. ANDREWT S . 9 S CATHEDRAL, Fife. Round-sectioned handl bodd ean y sherd. MPBW site museum. 10. NORTH BERWICK ABBEY, East Lothian. Round-sectioned handle and body sherd. Abbey Collection in North Berwick Burgh Museum. 11. DEER ABBEY, Aberdeenshire sherde On . Melrose Abbey, MPBW site museum. BROUG12 BIRSAYF HO , Orkney. Face mask spout (Scarboroug MPB0 7 P hW TypSM . e5) site museum. 13. COLDINGHAM PRIORY, Berwickshire jugf o NMASn I . m t Ri .numbered no , . Ther alssherde o ear otw s collecte bird-watchery db Isl e handla Mayf th eo e d n son o ,e an e otheth boda r y sherd. Both these fragments hav characteristie eth c lustrou lighte s glazth -d ean LAING AND ROBERTSON: NOTES ON SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL POTTERY 147 coloured, hard sandy fabric associated with the Scarborough kilns. The handle seems to be a kiln waster glaze th , e having spread throug hcraca k betwee junctioe ne handlth e th th d f no e an Scarborouga pote e bodb th .t f Howeveryo no y hma import i produc,a e t th kila bu t n f no o t island for which there is other evidence. SCARBOROUGH WARE FIG 1 | PROCEEDING 8 14 THF SO E SOCIETY, 1969-70 The fragment of an aquamanile from Skipness Castle, Argyll, is also in a ware and glaze closely relatee Scarborougth o t d h products. Although various aquamaniles were produced 3 by the Scarborough kilns, the example from Skipness, a West coast site, is not represented in the published series. Finally, mention may be made of a fragment of a plastic figure from a 4 FACE-MASK J UGS 0 K I L N S FIG 2 LAING AND ROBERTSON: NOTES ON SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL POTTERY | 149 shape knigha th f n e o i horseback n g o t ju , excavatione founth n di t Hurlsa y Hawkin, Angus.5 This is a type of figure usually associated with Nottingham where a famous jug from the Moot Hal decorates i l d with knights hunting hares. Hurle fabrie th Th f yo c Hawkin figure together wit glazs h it quite ear e characteristi f Scarboroughco , thoug fore h6 th m t matcheagaino s ni n di knowe th n finds from Scarborough Mooe Th . t Hall jug, however a 'Scarboroughs alsi , n oi ' fabric and there is reason to suppose that it is an import in Nottingham since in fabric and glaze uniqus i t i e amon Nottinghae gth m vessels connectioe .Th n between Nottingha Scarborougd man h has been noted by Rutter in a discussion of another type of 'knight' jug.7 FACE MASK JUGS Anthropomorphic decoration is a characteristic feature of medieval pottery. It is as wide- sprea Scotlann di Englandn i s da ,l area turninal n si wherp gu e medieval potter founds yi s A . in England, face mask relativele sar y rar individuan eo l sites, usuall sity eyan where they occur can boast no more than one or two examples at the most. Scotlann I native th d r therevidenceo fo n productiot s ei ye s ea f free-standinno g figures r completo e figures raise reliefn di o sherds e froTw . on m, Kirkcudbrigh d anothean t r from Dundee (Overgate), may be parts of circular brooches worn by full length figures. There is no reason to suppose that the Kirkcudbright8 jugs are not English imports as also the sherd from Dundee.9 Smal r bod vesselo a fac f alsye m o eri ar l o maske uncommonth n so . The bulk of the anthropomorphic pottery in Scotland belongs to the general category of vessels with bearded face masks. This grou bees pha n mad speciae eth l stud discussioa f yo n by Mrs H E Jean le Patourel.10 It has been found convenient in the following analysis of Scottish material to devise a scheme not based on the classification of beard types; broadly speaking it is possibl distinguiso et h three different classes: Type 1 includes all face masks modelled in good relief in the neck and rim of the jug with the intention of producing an anthropomorphic vessel. These would appear to date fro late mth e thirteent fourteentd han h centuries. relatea Typ s i e2 d typ e- bridg e spouts with faces modelle themn ddateo e thesf Th o . e vessels would appear to be approximately the same as Type 1. Typ eappear3 e characteristib o t s f fifteenth-centuro c y pottery. This typ s generallei y merely a pad of clay applied to the neck, rim or even the body of the vessel on which a facs beeha e n incised with econom f lineyo lateA . r variant, Type SA, which probably continued into the sixteenth century, consists of a face incised directly on to the body of the pot without any attempt at relief. Kilns producing face mask jugs are known at Stenhouse, near Falkirk, and Colstoun, East Lothian.11 Both Stenhous Colstoud ean knowe nar havo nt e produced Typ jugse1 , while Stenhouse also appear havo st e produced Typ maskse3 . These for e verwera th f m yo n e i diminu- wit m incisen tivri ha e e th trilobatd n incisefacd o an d e epa d cros bodye circled th san n A .so showinp ma distributioe gth n efface mask pottern so y foun Scotlann di giveds i n in fi Example. g2 s of these three different types have been identifie followss da : Type 1 Several masks belonging to this type have been published. One fine example with a long beard comes fro Base m th f Inverurie so , Aberdeenshire, foun 1919.n di 12 This mask sandn i , y buff ware wit hgooa d apple green glaz witfrog s ei ju hmflaa a t inturned rim t appearI . havo st e 150 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1969-70 hana d clutchin bearde gth othee formth ,m rar strua s t wit bodye hknoScottisth e o n W .f wo h woult i d parallel imporn dan a t seee i b r t- belonginms o fo t same th publishe e o g t clasth e sar d pots with well-modelled masks from Bothwell Castle, t Andrew1S 3 s Cathedral,14 Inchcolm Abbey Birsay;d an lattee th r exampl probabls ei imporn ya t from Yorkshire (see above)A . whicn i notabl e y Bothwele hth th wa f t e Andreweo 1S 5th feature e ls i jugson th 1 g 6f d so eju 1an 7 beard forms a loop with body of the vessel. In the case of the St Andrews jug the beard is of the 'rope-twist' type. The same feature is to be noted on a recently published face-mask from Holy- wood, Dumfriesshire,18 and on a mask of late thirteenth/early fourteenth-century date from Kirkcudbright Castle, first publishe 191 n di recentld 4an y re-published. This typ knows ei o nt have been made at Colstoun. It is widespread in North1 9 Britain and was being produced in Yorkshir t Nottinghaea t Carlisle.a d man 20 Type 2 Bridge spouts were made with a separate piece of clay smoothed on to the neck of the vessel, then a hole was pierced through below the rim before firing. Spouts of this type have been published from Melrose Bothwell,d 21an lattee th 2n r2i cas mase eth kwhole beinth t eg no spou t 10 I NS CMS FIGS but forming a medallion on it. Bridge spouts are normally dated to the period 1250-1350 and are widespread from London northwards. Scottish examples of the fifteenth century are known. This for spouf mo t ornamented wit hmaska , however, belong earliee th o st r period addition I . n 23 to those already published there is one unprovenanced example in the NMAS, without doubt LAIN ROBERTSOND GAN ! NOTE SCOTTISN SO H MEDIEVAL POTTER1 15 | Y Scottish or Northern on account of its fabric, style and glaze, Cat no.