I regularly mention the fantastic objects that you can find in Wiltshire’s museums but did you know that they also hold impressive art collections?

Museums of all sizes have paintings and prints depicting local scenes or created by artists who lived in the area. Not all of these will be household names, but they are still a valuable part of the story of life in Wiltshire which museums tell.

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My name is Sebastian Foxley. I am a conservator working as part of the Objects Conservation team at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.  I have recently been working on a Roman vessel called a trulleus. A trulleus is a bronze sauce pan and trullei were used by Roman soldiers for cooking. Other examples have been found in Britain in Roman military camps but they are unusual in areas such as Wiltshire where there is little evidence of Roman military activity.  

The high level of workmanship and the fact that parts of the object are coated in a layer of silver suggest that this was not just a cooking pot for a common legionary.  Similar artefacts have been interpreted as belonging to officers but the item may not have belonged to a soldier at all.

 
The trulleus

The object was found as part of a hoard consisting of three trullei and two wine strainers found at Kingston Deverill in Wiltshire. The hoard and the conservation of one of the wine strainers are described in one of the case studies in the conservation page of our website www.wshc.eu/about-wshc/conservation.html.
When the items where first excavated the resources to have all five vessels cleaned and conserved were not available. Although one item was conserved the others had to wait still covered in soil from the field they were found in until they could be treated.  

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