Atlas / For a fresh start / HorseshoeNo. 12

Plate IBritain & Ireland · England Horseshoe, drawn by Wishlore

Pl. IHorseshoe. An iron horseshoe, nails in place. Drawing: Wishlore.

No. 12 · For a fresh start · Britain & Ireland

The horseshoe

An iron shoe nailed over a door — one of the oldest recorded house charms in England.

Earliest record: Aubrey’s Miscellanies, 1696
Source: John Aubrey, Miscellanies (1696), Project Gutenberg
Region: Britain & Ireland · England
Wish: For a fresh start
Layers: Record Folk Modern

Keep this symbol · from £2.99 Read the sources

The story · three layers

The story, in three layers.

Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.

Record

England, 1696

Over the threshold, 1696

John Aubrey’s Miscellanies (1696) notes that it was very common to nail horseshoes on the thresholds of doors to stop witches entering the house.

Folk

First World War

Worn in wartime

The Science Museum holds a horseshoe brooch from the First World War, collected by Edward Lovett.

III

Modern

Wishlore, today

How we tell it

We tell the horseshoe as Aubrey recorded it: something people nailed over a door.

Horseshoe

Aubrey’s Miscellanies, 1696

Story and sources on the reverse

Pl. IIThe story card. Every printed piece carries the story and a code that opens the full source list.

Keep it close

How would you like to keep it?

Download & print

Print-ready card and phone wallpaper

£2.99Sample price

Printed story card, posted

Story and source code on the reverse

£8Sample price

Sterling pendant

925 sterling silver · whole symbol

£28Sample price

Gilded pendant

Gold plated 925 silver (vermeil) · no stones: the shape has no point for one

£85Sample price

Atelier, numbered

Handmade, numbered, made to order · making video later · no stones: the shape has no point for one

£185Sample price

Wish for someone

A private note in your own account. Nothing is sent to them.

Free

Add to bag · £8

Pendants are whole symbols, drawn from this plate. Pictures are design drawings, not photos, until the piece is made and photographed
Printed cards and pendants are made in our partner workshop in China and shipped worldwide
Delivery: [UK/EU/US days TBC]; duties shown at checkout

In one breath

Nailed to the threshold, as Aubrey saw in 1696. Who would you keep it for?