5/16/2023 0 Comments Medieval collectibles![]() They were then given the appearance of age by being bathed in acid and coated with river mud. The items were cast using plaster of Paris moulds, into which a design was engraved by hand. Initially they were all made from lead or pewter, but later the two also used a copper-lead alloy. United Kingdom Portable Antiquities Schemeĭuring their career, Smith and Eaton are estimated to have made between 5,000 and 10,000 items of many kinds, including pilgrim badges, ampulla, statuettes, portable shrines, coins, medallions and ornamental spearheads. One side shows the profile head of a man wearing a crown the other shows the head of a helmeted knight. Forgeries Ī lead Billy and Charley medallion, 93 to 113 millimetres (3.7 to 4.4 in) in diameter, 3.3 millimetres (0.13 in) thick and weighing 150 grams (5.3 oz). In 1857, the two began to manufacture counterfeit artefacts to sell to Edwards. Edwards came to view the pair as "his boys" and frequently bought from them items of interest they found while mudlarking. In 1844 or 1845, Smith came into contact with an antique dealer, William Edwards Eaton met Edwards some years later. They lived in Rosemary Lane (now called Royal Mint Street) in what is now part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Little is known of the lives of William Smith (dates unknown) and Charles Eaton (c.1834–1870) except that when young they were mudlarks – individuals that made a small living by searching the mudflats of the River Thames at low-tide, seeking any item of value. Because of this, modern fake Billy and Charleys are reportedly in circulation. They have been sold for prices equalling or exceeding the values of examples of the medieval originals they purported to be. A number of museums hold collections of them and they are sought-after collectible items in their own right. Today, Billy and Charleys are viewed as examples of naïve art. At the time, some antiquarians were fooled by the forgeries, despite their being crudely made by two individuals with limited skill in metalworking and little knowledge of medieval art. The latter name derives from the two Londoners, William "Billy" Smith and Charles "Charley" Eaton, who were responsible for their large-scale manufacture between 18. The Shadwell forgeries, also known as the Shadwell Dock forgeries, the Billy and Charley forgeries, or the Shadwell Shams, were a series of mid-19th-century forgeries of medieval lead and lead-alloy artefacts. Auckland War Memorial Museum, accession number 1932.434 The obverse carries the profile, head of a man and the purported date of "1292" the reverse side is a simple, crosshatch pattern. The obverse and reverse sides of a Billy and Charley in the form of a lead plaque, 130 by 75 millimetres (5.1 by 3.0 in). ![]()
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