Modern London, like modern Rome, stands in part on ruins of an older city. Hence it is that when foundations are being dug and excavations to some 15 to 20 feet are made, relics of Roman London and of Saxon and early Norman buildings which were built in subsequent ages upon the older ruins come to light. It is amidst these ruins and the debris of old architecture that metal curiosities are often found. Copper and brass have not perished to the same extent as iron and more corrosive metals. In London, Bath, Chester, and cities which were famous many centuries ago, the earliest metal curiosities are unearthed. But many of the most valued have been found where least expected, for it must be remembered that even the sites of many old cities have been lost, and green fields now cover the old foundations.
It is a little disappointing at first, when a collection of Roman antiquities is under examination, to find that they bear a striking resemblance to modern appliances—especially is that so in the cooking utensils. Most of these early vessels are of bronze; some, however, are of pure copper, mostly covered over with green patina. The useful seems to have predominated over the ornamental; possibly it is that the more substantial cooking-pots and pans have remained, although lighter and more ornamental objects have perished.
The pots and saucepans are indeed remarkably like those which are now used for similar purposes. This has been remarked by many who have had to do with the uncovering of long buried ruins. A writer describing a Roman kitchen attached to the villa of a patrician family of note in the Republican era before Augustus assumed the purple, which had been uncovered in Rome, said, "The culinary utensils found there are much like our own, made of brass, some of them dipped or plated over with silver." They consisted of kettles with feet, with a dome-shaped opening under them, a hollow cylinder which entered into the kettle base so that the fire could penetrate it.
Many of these utensils, whilst possessing great strength and lasting qualities, were not altogether plain, for they were covered with foliated ornament like the saucepan illustrated in Fig. 7. The saucepans without handles were something like a caldron on feet; many, however, were fitted with bail handles, by which they could be hung over the fire by the aid of a tripod. The metal of which these early vessels were made varied, for although some were of bronze, some were made of a yellowish brass, like one found in London near Ludgate. The Guildhall Museum is the best place to find a thoroughly representative collection of Roman metal-work. In the cases there are curious saucer-like bowls with and without handles, many spoons of bronze, and a variety of ladles, some of which have long and narrow bowls; and there are some culinary strainers, not unlike the modern colander.
There are many ewers and some bowls or basins of bronze. In Fig. 8 is shown a ewer of hammered copper, the handle having at the time it was made, or at some later period, been strengthened with brass wire, which is in part flattened and stamped with medallions giving the vessel an exceedingly ornamental appearance. This curious piece is to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Among the more important kitchen accessories which have been discovered on the sites of Roman towns are bronze scales not unlike miniatures of the steelyards once common in England, and still used by butchers. Then there are brass gridirons, dripping-pans, and cups of bronze. There are also copper pails for cooling wine, and in a few instances bronze stands for the wine amphoræ. It is almost impossible to point out the sites which are likely to yield the explorer the best results, neither is it possible to locate the town where metal-work has been found to the greatest extent, for all old camping-grounds and towns once occupied by Roman troops or residential cities during Roman occupation contain what has been thrown away as useless or has been buried accidentally.
The collector is delighted with the many little objects which can be bought, trifling matters when seen separately, but very interesting when collectively displayed.