Brass Barrel Spigot & Iron Saddle Stirrup!

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I was driving back from Ottawa, ON on Friday and decided to hit the site west of Kingston, ON where I found my first British Officers Badge last summer. I lowered my discrimination to 25 and decided to dig anything consistent in the 40 – 70 range as this site is extremely trashy! My first find was the iron stirrup, which hit at 65 on the VDI, next came the brass spigot and last the copper plate. This unusual copper ‘plate’ has square nail holes and I feel was likely used to patch something… sure wish there had been some writing on it though! I've also included pics of the stirrup after 24hrs of tumbling and a piece of cast iron with some interesting detail.

This ‘Fiddian’ style spigot was used on wooden beer, wine and water barrels. These spigots often have the name stamped "Fiddian" on the top turnkey; it’s rare to find an example with the key, as they were often lost as on this piece. W. Fiddian & Co., Great Hampton Street, Birmingham, started up sometime before 1816 making brass candlesticks, bells and spigots, up until c1870 when the company was taken over by James Barwell.

'Spigot' is the name of an old type of tap for a barrel or cask, consisting of a hollow, tapering tube, which was driven at the narrow end into a barrel, and a screw into the tube, which regulated the flow of the liquid. Purportedly, it seems the spigot was the tube, the faucet the screw, but the senses have merged or reversed over time. ‘Faucet’ is now the common word in American English for the whole apparatus.

Thanks for looking,
Dave

 

[pepperj]

Congrats on the stirrup and barrel spigot Dave, I was just "awe man you're killing me" when I saw the pics! So I dug a steel wedge and sq. nails for a fix out of the field to make myself feel better. You've dug some great stuff out of that site over this past year and when you get the larger targets out of the way I'll join you to help clean up the cream. The hay is coming off most of the fields but time is so limited right now as every weather related project is backed up it seems.
Hey you can add the stirrup to the ever growing collection of horse related tack, badges, shoes, nails and pretty soon you'll be outfitted.

 

[sutphin]

I CANT TAKE THIS NOT ANOTHER DAY , ANTIQUE WHAT A NICE SPIGOT AND A STURRIP TO GO WITH IT TOO. THE SPIGOT TAP IS AWESOME AND THE PLATE. IS THE PLATE SILVER WITH A PLAIN FACE ??

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Congrats on the stirrup and barrel spigot Dave, I was just "awe man you're killing me" when I saw the pics! So I dug a steel wedge and sq. nails for a fix out of the field to make myself feel better. You've dug some great stuff out of that site over this past year and when you get the larger targets out of the way I'll join you to help clean up the cream. The hay is coming off most of the fields but time is so limited right now as every weather related project is backed up it seems.
Hey you can add the stirrup to the ever growing collection of horse related tack, badges, shoes, nails and pretty soon you'll be outfitted.

Jim, I'll never match some of the great finds you've made my friend!
I've said it before and I'll say it again... with your 40 years of detecting experience, this 'newbie' learns something new every time we hunt together!

I detected a c.1930 school property and a c.1870 farmhouse site yesterday, unfortunately the soil has been 'rearranged' a couple of times according to the landowner.
I'll post my finds later today.

Talk to you,
Dave

I CANT TAKE THIS NOT ANOTHER DAY, ANTIQUE WHAT A NICE SPIGOT AND A STIRRUP TO GO WITH IT TOO. THE SPIGOT TAP IS AWESOME AND THE PLATE. IS THE PLATE SILVER WITH A PLAIN FACE ??

Thanks for your post sutphin!
The plate is made of copper, it has no finish except the verdigris and was folded in half when I dug it. It has small square nail holes punched through it around the edges.

My only wish is that there'd been something stamped or written on it, alas, it's unmarked!
Dave