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20.02.2021

Cheapside Hoard

The Cheapside Treasure is a remarkable collection of jewelry dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, discovered in 1912 during excavation work in a basement at 30-32 Cheapside in London, near the corner of Friday Street. This hidden cache was found within a buried wooden box and contained over 400 pieces of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewelry. The collection includes an array of items such as rings, brooches, chains, as well as various accessories like toads, cameos, scent bottles, fan holders, crystal mugs, and a salt cellar. These pieces are characterized by their intricate designs, enameled gold settings, and colorful gemstones.

The majority of the Cheapside Treasure is now housed in the Museum of London, while some items are on display at the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

It is believed that the location where the treasure was found once served as the premises of a Jacobean jeweler. The collection is thought to represent the jeweler's stock, which was buried in a cellar during the English Civil War. During the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, Cheapside was a prominent shopping district in the City of London, featuring a variety of luxury goods stores, including numerous jewelers. The site was historically known as Goldsmith's Row, owned by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, which played a significant role in the manufacture and sale of gold and jewelry in medieval London.

One theory proposed by Chris Lane suggests that the treasure may have originally come from the East Indies in 1631 and was collected by a Dutch jeweler named Gerald Polman. Polman died during the voyage, and his jewel chest was taken by an assistant carpenter on the ship, Christopher Adams. Eventually, Adams had to surrender the box and its contents to Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsay, who served as the treasurer of the East India Company. Lindsay became embroiled in a legal dispute with the Dutch heirs of Polman but passed away at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642.

Goldsmith's Row was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666 and later rebuilt by the Goldsmiths' Company in 1667. The treasure was discovered in the basement remains of the old building in 1912. The site has since undergone changes, but the Cheapside Treasure provides a fascinating glimpse into the international trade in luxury goods of the period, with gemstones sourced from regions like South America, Asia, and Europe. The collection includes emeralds from Colombia, topaz from Brazil, spinel, iolite, and chrysoberyl from Sri Lanka, and many other precious stones from various parts of the world. It serves as a testament to the global nature of luxury commerce during that era.

Cheapside Hoard

The Cheapside Treasure comprises an impressive array of jewelry, with various gemstones set in bezels on enamel rings. Many of the gemstones used in these pieces are cabochon-cut, although there are some more modern faceted cuts, including the rose cut and star cut. One notable item in the collection is a particularly large Colombian emerald, which was originally the size of an apple. It has been hollowed out to house a Swiss watch movement, dating back to around 1600, and is signed by J. Ferlitt.

The collection features several remarkable exhibits, including a Byzantine gemstone cameo, a cameo depicting Queen Elizabeth I, an emerald parrot, and various fake carved and painted quartz gems. Among these treasures is a small red seal that bears the coat of arms of William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford. This seal helps date the burial of the treasure between his elevation to the nobility in November 1640 and the Great Fire of London in September 1666, which destroyed the buildings mentioned earlier. It's worth noting that most of the gold in the collection is of the "Paris touch" standard, which means it has a purity of 19.2 carats (80%).

The workers who discovered the treasure initially sold the items to an antiques dealer and pawnshop owner known as "Stone Jack," whose real name was George Fabian Lawrence. Lawrence often paid workers in cash for interesting finds from construction sites in London. He was eventually appointed by the Town Hall Museum to search for new objects for its collection and became the excavation inspector at the fledgling London Museum in 1911.

The Goldsmiths' Company did not officially claim ownership of the finds, and there was no inquest into the treasure. Funding from Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, enabled the London Museum to purchase most of the Cheapside treasure. However, several items were sent to the British Museum and the Town Hall Museum, while one gold and enamel chain was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The treasures were initially exhibited at the London Museum in Kensington in 1914, receiving significant acclaim. The collections of the Town Hall Museum and the London Museum merged to form the Museum of London in 1975.

The entire hoard was displayed together for the first time in over a century at the Museum of London from October 2013 to April 2014, providing a rare opportunity for the public to admire these exquisite artifacts.

Cheapside Hoard

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