Details

LOT 2176

Medieval Style 'Billy and Charley' Fantasy Pendant

19TH CENTURY A.D.

4 1/4 in. (112 grams, 10.7 cm).

By William Smith and Charles Eaton; obverse: head with radiate crown; reverse: crowned figure with dagger and chalice. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.

Literature

See Mitchiner, M., Medieval Pilgrim & Secular Badges, London, 1986, p.278-9.

Footnotes

"Billy and Charlies", also known as the Shadwell forgeries, refer to a very extensive series of fake antiquities made in Victorian London by William Smith (Billy) and Charles Eaton (Charley). They were mudlarks who searched the Thames for items of value. William Edwards, a London antique dealer, made Billy's acquaintance around about 1845, and he met Charley some years later. He paid them for items of interest that they found. Billy and Charley earned money from this until 1857, when they decided to counterfeit antiquities. They cast objects from lead or pewter, cutting dies into plaster of Paris moulds with nails and knives, and bathing the finished items in acid to simulate aging. Their commonest products were medallions, but others included daggers, statuettes, ampullae and even small shrines; as they were both illiterate the inscriptions on many of the objects are nonsense. They sold their forgeries to very prominent collectors of the time who thought they were genuine. Eventually, due to the large volume of objects that were appearing on the market, they were arrested and tried at court though they could not be found guilty of any crime at the time. They were released and carried on producing fakes but their style of manufacture had become well known and they eventually disappeared from history.