Set of nested brass weights, Europe, 1601-1700

Set of 17th century brass weights for wool

Decorated with horses and aquatic animals, these brass weights (weighing more than 15 kg in total) were used to weigh sheep’s wool – a very valuable commodity in the 1600s. Shearing and spinning wool was not without its health hazards. A type of anthrax that affected the lungs was transmitted to humans from the wool of infected sheep and became known as Wool Sorters Disease. The brass weights are pictured here with another set of nested weights (A5942).