Rose Theatre fork

Two-pronged fork, known as a sucket fork, found during the excavations of the Rose theatre on Bankside. The handle has decorative wooden scales engraved with a foliate design and held in place by five copper alloy rivets. The finial at the end of the handle is engraved with the initials ‘AN’. This is a high quality implement, used in fine dining for eating sweetmeats. It is unusually early in date and is the earliest fork to be excavated in London so far. It was found in dumped deposits underneath the second stage at the Rose (the original stage was altered in 1592) and may have been used by wealthy members of the audience. The Rose was first built in 1587 and was one of four purpose-built playhouses on the south bank of the Thames in London (the others were the Globe, the Hope and the Swan). It was demolished in 1606. Archaeologists discovered the remains of the Rose in 1988. Reference: Bowsher, J. & Miller, P. (2009), 'The Rose and the Globe - playhouses of Shakespeare's Bankside, Southwark. Excavations 1988-90’, MOLA Monograph 48.