Pewter Spangles

I offered to make a pewter event token for the Politarchopolan Baronial Investiture of Alisandro & Isobel in 2006. The event steward was quite happy for me to take on the job, which she was otherwise going to have to design and get commercially made. She requested 200 tokens and that I incorporate the following items in the design:

That is a heck of a lot of writing for a token, but I said I'd see what I could do.

For inspiration I scanned through various source books for medieval trinkets, and eventually spotted a section on "spangles" in the Museum of London Dress Accessories book. The spangles were shaped like a small coin with a flange at the top, like a medal. The book cites examples from the late 12th century up to mid 14th century. While the book didn't draw many conclusions as to what spangles were used for, whether they were pilgrim tokens, heraldic symbols or just shiny decorations, the two holes at the top and the flat nature of the item make it a good choice for suspending from ribbon or sewing to clothing. More to the point the spangles were cast from pewter, and many had animals on the front - just what I was looking for.

My design for the event token incorporated a central griffin, encircled by the lettering "POLITARCHOPOLIS" and "ASXLI". The border was two circles with a row of dots, since both appear to be typical of the real spangles. On the flange at the top I put a row of vertical lines, fanning outwards to match the shape of the flange.

The reverse side of the original spangles was blank, but since I had run out of space on the front, I placed the initials E L A I on the back in gothic font to represent the four baronial people.

Photos

Guide bump

Fig 1: A guide bump, for lining up the front and back of the mould.

Blutac

Fig 2: I used blutac to check the shape and pattern in the mould as I carved it.

Mould Pieces

Fig 3: The two halves of the mold. Writing backwards using a knife is a bit tricky. Also note that the two bumps to make the holes in the flange are sloped to prevent the metal grabbing hold of them as it cools and shrinks.

The mould

Fig 4: The two parts held together.

Cast in situ

Fig 5: The cast. Note that the hand has two gloves on. I found I could cast about three times before the mould became too hot to handle even with two layers of gloves.

Cast in situ