Belt Fittings   Pilgrim Signs & Religious Goods   Brooches & Pendants •   Decorative •   Amatory •   Heraldic •   Martial •   Hard to Explain •   Charm Holders & Pendants •   Carnival Brooches •   More Carnival Brooches! •   Custom Jobs   Household Goods, Toys, etc.   Billy and Charlie   Order Now!   Click on any image for a larger picture!           Belt Fittings   Pilgrim Signs & Religious Goods   Brooches & Pendants •   Decorative •   Amatory •   Heraldic •   Martial •   Hard to Explain •   Charm Holders & Pendants •   Carnival Brooches •   More Carnival Brooches! •   Custom Jobs   Household Goods, Toys, etc.   Billy and Charlie   Order Now!   Click on any image for a larger picture!

Man with Basket. To date we have read two scholarly explanations for the motif of this late 14th century brooch. In one the man is mooning the woman who has just "given him a basket" - that is, jilted him. In the other, he represents a proverbial fool who tries to carry darkness into a building in a basket. If you have any other explanations, we'd love to add them to our collection. Man with Basket $5.00 1-1/2 x 1-3/8" or 38 x 34mm # reversed from van Beuningen, no. 621 Big Mr. M. This delightful early 15th century brooch produced much of its original comic effect through its visual similarity to an extremely popular type of jewelry- a brooch in the shape of the letter M. The M-brooches seem to have had two separate contexts: a religious one, where the M stood for "Maria" and a secular or romantic one where the M may have been the initial for "Minne" (courtly love) - in either context the substitution of this little guy must have provided quite a surprise. Big Mr. M. $5.00 1-1/2 x 1-3/8" or 38 x 34mm * van Beuningen, no. 618     Lady Riding. Her costume dates the French original of this brooch to the late 14th or early 15th century. The original is now headless; we have supplied a head and a coiffure contemporary with the kirtle. Lady Riding. $5.00 1-3/8 x 1-1/8" or 35 x 28mm # Cluny, no. 613 Penis in a Padlock. Uh... Frustration? Devotion? Imposed chastity? Some things are tough to explain. A copy of a 15th century pendant from the Low Countries . Penis in a Padlock. $3.00 1-3/8 x 5/8" or 33 x 15mm * van Beuningen, no. 651     Wienie Roast. A strikingly graphic and imaginative depiction of romantic activity. For those not up on cooking with real fire, we should explain that the penis is impaled on a spit and that the vulva serves as the dripping pan. Wienie Roast $5.00 7/8 x 1-1/8" or 23 x 30mm * van Beuningen, no. 654 Woman at the Forge. Ah, the fires of love! The woman at the forge seems to be making a penis to her own specifications, but perhaps I'm missing something more profound. (Or something ruder, or something weirder - you never can tell.) Woman at the Forge $5.00 2-3/8 x 1-5/8" or 60 x 38mm * Heilig en Profaan, p.23     Dick Hood. We all know one. Dick Hood $5.00 1-1/4 x 1" or 31 x 25mm * van Beuningen, no. 627