Silver brooch with pick, shovel and nugget

View this record on the National Museum of Australia's website

Type: Brooches
Date: 1896 -
Place: Australia
Materials: Metal - non specific, Silver
Collection: Trevor Kennedy collection
Accession number: 2020.0002.0042

Description

A silver coloured brooch featuring a pick axe and a shovel. The shovel is lying horizontally with the pick placed diagonally behind it. There is a nugget on top of where the two tools overlap. Wound around the handle of the shovel and the nuggest is a twisted silver rope. The back of the brooch is imprinted with 'LEVINSON' and '206'.

This 'digger's' brooch is a product of the nineteenth century gold rushes in Australia. Goldfields jewellery, featuring stylised mining tools and nuggets, was made as a memento and display of a miner's success. The brooch may be gold, alloyed or plated with other metals or silver.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:44:31 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-01-15. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.