I am studying post-medieval bone, ivory, antler, horn and wood knife and fork handles from various city of London sites. I hope this assemblage of artefacts will demonstrate the changes in style of these handles during the post-medieval period. Interestingly, it has been suggested that the fork was introduced to England during the post-medieval period. I also hope that this assemblage of artefacts will demonstrate this introduction of technology.
Currently, I am creating a typology of these artefacts by combining context dates for each artefact with stylistic analyses of these artefacts. This typology will hopefully reveal a natural evolution of style for knife and fork handles during the post-medieval period. Within this evolution, I hope that fork handles can be identified from a marked difference in style and/or handle technology.
This research is then being supplemented by art historical and historical references. These artefacts are relatively under-researched however and I hope that my research can contribute to other post-medieval London studies. Ultimately, my research could suggest the way in which these handles were employed and the value these handles might have held among the people of London during the post-medieval period.
