Metal objects

Dredging of the river Saône brought up a large number of metal objects.

Tony Lacroix (1805-1883) is a shining example of the scholarly collectors who contributed to the museum’s development. After studying pharmacy in Paris, he opened a pharmacy in Mâcon in 1828. Fascinated with archaeology and mineralogy, he was a member of several learned societies, including the Académie de Mâcon, the Société Française d'Archéologie and the Société Botanique de Lyon.

The collection that he assembled, and began contributing to the Musée de Mâcon in 1860, was highly diverse. While many ceramics were unearthed during construction of the railway linking Geneva and Mâcon, metal items, including the sword known as the ‘Épée de Maçon’, were found during dredging of the river Saône. This dredging actually revealed several bronze swords, which provided insights into human inhabitation and river commerce during the Hallstatt culture, from 1250 to 725 BCE.

Local workshops that appeared during this period used imported metal and were often inspired by models originating from Germany, Switzerland and Italy.