Small iron vessel for smelting gold. Cylindrical, just 5/8” diameter, 3/4” high. For melting gold. Before modern mining equipment and technology, all gold was surface finds or mined in shallow shafts without the aid of water or air pumps. Its comparative rarity was much greater and quantities were on scale with this tiny tool. That aside, the task of forging this miniature needed the skill of the blacksmith together with the jeweler. A deceptively extraordinary object by virtue of its construction and use.
