Cologne stoneware tankard

The fragment comes from a straight-sided tankard with a flat moulded base, a type which was not commonly imported into Britain. The figure is one of three which would have extended around the body of the vessel. She is the personification of Hope - gehloefe - and would have been accompanied by Faith and Charity.

Such ornament was made separately in a mould, then applied to the wheel-thrown pot. The motifs were copied from contemporary woodcuts.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum Exeter Archaeology