Trufflehunter and the Golden Chalice

Silver Sixpence Pendant

Archive Work — Hairy Growler Collection

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A seeker beneath the woodland floor

Some creatures move unseen, guided not by sight but by instinct.

Trufflehunter and the Golden Chalice was shaped as a small story of persistence — a badger travelling quietly through the earth, searching for hidden treasure known only through patience and trust in the unseen.

Hand cut from a recycled sterling silver sixpence coin struck around the turn of the twentieth century, the pendant carries a history already lived before entering the workshop. Once exchanged as currency, the silver was spared from melting and allowed instead to become narrative.

Within its surface, a new story emerged.

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The Trufflehunter

In folklore and countryside memory, the badger is neither hurried nor boastful. It moves with certainty, following paths learned slowly over time.

The truffle hunter searches beneath the surface — for nourishment, for rarity, for something valuable hidden where others do not look.

Here, that discovery takes symbolic form as a tiny golden chalice, inlaid by hand using a fragment of 24ct gold. The chalice represents reward not gained through conquest, but through perseverance and quiet attention.

Treasure, in this telling, belongs to those who endure.

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Made Slowly at the Bench

The pendant began as a single historic coin, carefully prepared before the design was drawn directly onto the metal.

The form was then:

• saw-pierced entirely by hand

• carved and engraved using traditional tools

• shaped without casting or duplication

• finished to preserve traces of the coin’s earlier life

Each mark remains visible as evidence of making — not perfection imposed, but character revealed through process.

No two interpretations could ever be identical.

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A Note from the Woodland

In the Hairy Growler world, the badger represents resilience and independence — a creature guided by instinct rather than noise. Where the hare begins journeys and the owl observes them, the badger works quietly beneath the surface, uncovering meaning slowly.

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Archive Record

• Title: Trufflehunter and the Golden Chalice

• Material: Recycled sterling silver sixpence coin (c.1900)

• Detail: 24ct gold inlaid chalice

• Technique: Hand cut, carved & engraved using traditional tools

• Diameter: Approx. 19 mm

• Origin: Handmade in Cambridge, England

• Symbolism: independence, resilience, love of hidden treasures

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Time Horizon

Once carried quietly through another century as currency, this silver now continues its journey elsewhere — gathering memory not through exchange, but through belonging.

Once, this metal moved from hand to hand without being noticed.

At the bench it was given pause and purpose, shaped into a story of patience and discovery. Now the Trufflehunter travels beyond the workshop, carrying its quiet treasure forward into another life.

And the search continues.

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Archive Note

This piece has now found its home and forms part of the growing Hairy Growler Archive — preserved here as a record of work shaped slowly, guided by folklore, and carried forward through time.