The New Murrey and Blue blog

What is it about earwax that has us all recoiling in disgust? When those ads come on TV, our noses wrinkle and we chorus “Ugh!”

Unfortunately we’re stuck with the stuff, some of us more than others, and it’s nothing new. The Romans used little earwax scoops, and so did people of the medieval era. And everyone since then, of course, right to this day. (Side thought: I wonder if Aliens have a similar problem?)

But according to this link— https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75lyzz7r56o—finding medieval examples is rare—only 20 recorded in the last 25 years, and this July one made of silver/part gilt was found by a metal detectorist in a field near King’s Lynn, Norfolk. So it is quite a treasure!

Such things aren’t easy to date, but “….a line of dots punched along its ‘barley twist’ handle….” led County Finds Liaison Officer Helen Geake (whom we all remember fondly from Time Team – https://www.timeteamdigital.com/the-team/helen-geake) to conclude that it was late medieval, probably 1350-1400. This puts it in the reigns of Edward III and his grandson Richard II.

If that’s accurate, I would definitely expect Richard II to possess one, after all, he was very particular about personal cleanliness and so on. Mentioning him on this Epiphany is perhaps entirely appropriate, but 6 January was his birthday.

The opposite end of the scoop has been fashioned (it’s thought) for cleaning under fingernails. One only has to look at portraits from the period to realise most of them failed to use something like that. Royal portraits display some very dirty fingernails!

The NPG portrait of Henry vii is a particularly good example, but he wasn’t alone, I’ve only chosen him because in this extract you can see his fingernails clearly. That is why, honest. 😏 He looks as if he’s been gardening without gloves!

The newly found scoop is now with the coroner and the Norwich Castle Museum is hoping to secure it for its collection.

You can read more here https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/71721 and here https://www.newsminimalist.com/articles/metal-detectorist-uncovers-rare-medieval-ear-wax-scoop-in-norfolk-field-de056dee.

Another such scoop was found in 2014, also in Norfolk, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-27191511.