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THIS OBJECT IS PART OF THE PROJECT 'A HISTORY OF CORNWALL IN 100 OBJECTS'.

PADSTOW MUSEUM. A holed amulet of serpentine on the left of the photograph is among the many intriguing items found in the Harlyn Bay cemetery. Other objects included spindle whorls and loom weights, slate tools and a dagger, brooches and pins. Two gold lunulae now in the Royal Cornwall Museum collections probably came from this cemetery. The Harlyn Bay burials are of many dates from the Bronze Age onwards.

Cornish serpentine comes from the Lizard district which is a long way from Harlyn Bay. Weathered serpentine of blackish hue was long used for houses and churches, but its potential for furniture and lighthouse tourist souvenirs only began in the 1840s. It featured as part of the Cornish entry at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Polished serpentine was made popular by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who ordered a set of furniture of this friable material for Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Photo: Bernie Pettersen