A Medieval Plate
Waterlogged conditions encountered during excavations on Perth High Street in the 1970s allowed for preservation of a wide range of wooden objects including numerous plates. The example shown here is markedly different from the other wooden plates from the site. It is a flat saucer-like plate with marked changes of contour coinciding with deep grooves. The effect created means that the central well of the plate is surrounded by a low lip. This is the earliest complete vessel from the site, dating to the late 12th century AD. Comparable examples are known from medieval London, Novgorod (Russia), Lübeck (Germany) and York.
The plate had been conserved previously but the old adhesive had become discoloured and was beginning to fail. A break along an old repair hasd caused instability and the plate was in need of a little TLC to ensure its longer-term stability. AOC’s conservators gently removed excess adhesive with swabs moistened with solvents, stabilised the cracks and carefully painted the repairs, colour-matching with the wood to ensure a subtle effect. The plate remains rather misshapen, though: the result of so many years spent underground with the weight of overlying deposits pushing down on it!
