LOT 1883

Three Pewter Pilgrim Badges

FRANCE, 14TH-15TH CENTURY A.D.

1 - 1 1/2 in. (10.5 grams total, 24-38 mm).

The first a circular badge of St John the Baptist, his severed head depicted on the circular plate with small loop for attachment at the top, inscription reading 'SIGNVM S’ IOhIS BABTIS' with a horizontal stroke to the 'h' so that it doesbles as a cross; a small badge of the Archangel Michael, shown fully armored and holding a sword above his head having bested Satan in personal combat; the final badge in the form of a dolphin, a secular piece likely worn by a follower of the French Dauphiné Charles V. [3]

Former Forgeais (1822-1878) collection, France, thence by family descent.
Arthur Forgeais was a noted 19th-century French archaeologist.
Born in 1822 in the city of Paris, Forgeais held a special interest and specialism in the medieval history of his home city.
When, in the mid-19th century, the Seine was dredged during Haussmann's renovation of the city, the scholar worked to recover a great number of archaeological remains from the silts of the river.
He subsequently published his findings in the five-volume title Collection of Historiated Leaves Found in the Seine and Collected by Arthur Forgeais (published 1862-1866).
The present collection of pewter pilgrim badges, all French in origin, is likely to have been recovered at this time.