Copper alloy brooch. Mercury gilded circular brooch of impure copper with six collets containing glass or enamel. This type of brooch is well represented in the medieval periods.The area between each collet is either stippled or cross-hatched, and the outside of the rim bears engraved zig-zags. The pin has a moulding at the junction with the loop and terminates at the back of the brooch. The pin was fitted to the brooch ring by passing its penannular loop around the ring and clinching the ends tightly together. A small gap still remains. 14th to 15th century pit. enamelled hinton pl24. From VR72-80, Victoria Road, Winchester, Hampshire. Excavated by Winchester Archaeology Section, 1972-1980.
Brooch of impure copper, with gilding
Medieval, probably later medieval
Found in the 1970s during excavations by Winchester Museums Archaeology Section at Victoria Road, Winchester, Hampshire
When this rather fancy brooch was analysed by X-ray fluorescence, it turned out to have been gilded using a mercury amalgam. This technique was noted for producing very smooth and solid gilded surfaces, but went it out of favour when people discovered the associated health risks. As the mercury in the amalgam was volatilised during the process, the metalworker would have breathed in the fumes - a very quick way to become quite ill.
