Could it have been the rim of a sieve, intended to have had cloth tied or glued 
around it, and set on the mouth of a larger container?
Tea, jellies, wines or possibly other spirits of the times, medicines, all might 
have been strained.
Hot or at room temp.

Gwyn Alcock
Riverside, CA




________________________________
From: Anatolijs Venovcevs <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, September 2, 2011 12:23:23 PM
Subject: Redware Ring/Lid

Hello everyone,

I have been recently tasked in analyzing the artifacts from a small excavation 
adjacent to an 1815 Stone Gunpowder Magazine at the Fort York National Historic 
Site in Toronto, Ontario.  It produced an artifact that no one has yet been able 
to identify and I thought I might have better luck here.  It came from a layer 
dating roughly between 1820s/1830s to the early twentieth century and is 
associated with a plethora of domestic, military, and architectural artifacts.

At first glance it appears to have been a red earthenware lid - it contains the 
same lip you would expect to see on a lid and is roughly dome-shaped.  However, 
the lid lacks the top of the dome and so instead forms a ring and thus it 
wouldn't be an effective cover for anything.  While much of the glaze has been 
exfoliated, the little that remains is present both on the interior and exterior 
surfaces and on both the top and bottom, again suggesting that the object was 
made this way.  The object is 20 mm tall and 72 mm in diameter with the opening 
being 45 mm in diameter.

I have uploaded a few quick photographs to flickr.  They can explain the 
artifact better than I can.

Top - http://www.flickr.com/photos/45985978@N00/6106997042
Bottom - http://www.flickr.com/photos/45985978@N00/6107005608
Side 1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/45985978@N00/6106459847
Side 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/45985978@N00/6107010178
Side 3 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/45985978@N00/6106466705

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Anatolijs Venovcevs
Research Archaeologist
Archaeological Services Inc.
Toronto, Ontario