In looking up the earliest yellow ware in England, the roots of my present yellow ware, for my
upcoming exhibition at UCONN (September 10th - December 10 at Torrington branch), I found hundreds of medieval yellow
clay pots on the London Museums web site. I also found many "money boxes". Money....we all need money. I
am trying to find a piece of pottery that I can market as a one-of-a-kind historical item, and here it is.
Hundreds were found at the Rose Theatre in London. The Rose Theatre was built in 1587. Pretty old stuff over
the pond, my "old" house seems new by comparison. By 1606, the theatre was abandoned, eventually torn down
and years upon years of development covered over the theatre's foundation.
http://www.rosetheatre.org.uk/about/history.php |
| Artist drawing of the Rose Theatre |
In
1988, a 1950s office block was torn down revealing the foundation of The Rose and a team of archaeologists moved in to uncover
the past. Among the objects uncovered were Money Boxes.
Now the mystery
of how and why they were used. I still haven't figured it all out, but the shape and size of these boxes indicate that
that they were small so they could be tied onto a wooden pole and passed among the threatre audience for collection fees.
Most of the money boxes (which are not money boxes at all, but small round clay pots) had knobs on the top and a large slanted
slit in the side. The shape of the slit may have prevented money from being shaken out by the audience or the ushers
and the pot had to be broken to get the coins out. If they were larger, the heavy coins of the day would have weighed down
the pot on the pole.
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| Excavation of the Rose Theatre |
How perfect that these fit into my current situation. I am to present these reproduction
charming little pots from Elizabethan England to collect money for my own old building!
And what will you and I use these "boxes" for? Well, we can tie
them on a pole and collect money at our own events. We can set them on a shelf for loose change. We can give them to the parents
of new babes for college savings. We can use them to remember a time in history when no paper money existed and a coin was
all that was needed to see a Shakespearean play.
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| Coins found at the Rose Threatre |
In Middle English, "pygg" referred to a type of clay used for making various household objects such as jars. People often saved money in kitchen pots and jars made of pygg, called "pygg jars". By the 18th century, the spelling of "pygg"
had changed and the term "pygg jar" had evolved to "pig bank." Of course, you will
have to break them to get your money out. Old clay banks were very common. Makers of Yellow Ware in the USA and England,
did not put an cork in their banks. This is one of the reasons the antique, quaint banks are so pricey today.
