Milkmaid Brooch

Milkmaids dancing through town and at the homes of their customers are among the many May Day customs recorded in the early modern period. They were reported to carry a flower wreath and a milk jug – while balancing pewter vessels on their heads. The extant fifteenth-century pewter brooches of milkmaids suggest that custom existed earlier.

This vigorous dairy worker is not burdened with anything except a hood on her head. (Neither is the other contemporary London-found milkmaid brooch, although a brooch from a different mold found in Salisbury has three vessels on her head). Our milkmaid’s original was recovered at St. Katharine’s Wharf site in 1987. She’s hiked up her skirts and she’s got her wreath, her jug, and her dancing shoes. She’s ready to go!