Artifacts from the 2015-19 excavation of the Red Lion playhouse in Whitechapel are on display. Items include clay pipes, sugar moulds, and a jar of bear grease. The decorative clay pipes feature intricate designs, with one showcasing an early bicycle. The sugar moulds highlight ties to former slaves from sugar plantations. The White Raven tavern, built later, was a center for Black Londoners, many of whom were sailors or former domestic workers. The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor was founded there in the 1780s, aiming to create a settler colony in Sierra Leone.
The 2015-19 excavation unveiled the remnants of the 16th-century Red Lion playhouse, alongside 17th and 18th-century assemblages related to the White Raven tavern.
Decorative features on the clay pipes found are remarkable, with one pipe even depicting an early version of a bicycle.
Sugar moulds are significant because they connect the location to former slaves from sugar plantations and the community of Black Londoners.
The White Raven tavern was linked to the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, founded in the 1780s.
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