File:Post-medieval , Toothpick (FindID 273529).jpg

A silver toothpick, broken along the shaft. The pick in the shape of a bird’s talon, emerging from the fleshy part of a bird’s claw, etched with lines to imitate skin at the point where the talon joins the claw. The shaft is of engraved foliate form with transverse banding. Length: 4.4cm approx. The sickle shape of the pick itself suggests a postmedieval date, probably 16th Century: an example in gold, from the tomb of the Count Palatine Philip Ludwig (died 1614) is now in the VAM, for which see Geoff Egan and Frances Pritchard, Dress Accessories, Medieval Finds from excavations in London 3, London 1991, pp.378-380. For another toothpick of similar date and type reported through the Treasure Act, see 2004 T238. The collections of the Museum of London record 6 forms of medieval types. The toothpick pendant became a fashionable accessory in Northern Europe by 1562, when engraved designs were published by the goldsmith, Erasmus Hornick: a late 16th Century enamelled gold toothpick with a baroque pearl “body” is in The Waddesdon Bequest in The British Museum: Hugh Tait, Catalogue of the Waddesdon Beqyest in the British Museum, The Jewels, London 1986, pp.167-170, no.31.