Read on Twitter
We're delighted to announce our new Twitter exhibition: The Tweetside Hoard. Open now and free to visit, all you have to do is scroll down this thread. And please, no touching the display cases. #TheTweetsideHoard
For almost 300 years the Cheapside Hoard lay undisturbed below one of London's busiest streets. Discovered by workmen in 1912, it is the greatest single collection of Elizabethan and Stuart jewellery in the world.
And we're sure you'll be pleased to hear that it will have its own designated gallery in our new museum at West Smithfield.
In June 1912, workmen excavating a timber-framed building struck upon an old wooden casket containing a tangled heap of jewellery, gems and precious objects. It is one of the most remarkable and spectacular finds ever recovered from British soil.
Very few examples of Elizabethan and early Stuart jewellery in England have survived, which makes the Cheapside Hoard an important record. It also gives us unparalleled insight into the international gem trade in an age of global conquest and exploration.
The hoard contains an astonishing array of almost 500 dazzling jewels and gemstones from many parts of the world including Colombia, Sri Lanka, Egypt and the Byzantine Empire.
Ready to uncover this bounty of previously buried treasure? Read on to reveal some of the most spectacular pieces from the Cheapside Hoard.
Frozen in time: an intricate, miniature watch set in a single large Colombian emerald, with a dial plate enamelled in translucent green.
This may look like little more than a polished pebble, but it’s actually a fossilised fish tooth known as a ‘toadstone’, believed to be an antidote against poison.
The purpose of this elaborate jewel is unclear, as it has no discernable loops or fastenings. It consists of an openwork octofoil of gold and enamel with nine foiled amethysts in octagonal bezels. It’s enamelled on the reverse in black and white.
This one’s well worth zooming in on: a gold pin with an intricately crafted decorative head in the form of a single-masted ship. The hull has been fashioned from a large baroque pearl, with gold wire for the mast and rigging.
A strawberry-leaf pendant formed from a bloodstone, with careful detailing to form the leaf’s delicate edges and veins. The gem has symbolic significance as both as a religious item and a token of love.
A gold, enamel and gem-set brooch in the form of a salamander with splayed limbs, raised head, gaping mouth and tightly curled tail. The sinuous body is fashioned from ten cabochon emeralds flanked by 30 table-cut diamonds (20 missing).
Some 50 cameo portraits of Queen Elizabeth I have survived in European public and private collections dating from about 1575-1603. This one was probably made by a specialist London workshop in the latter part of the queen’s life or in the years immediately following her death.
This amethyst cameo dates back to the Byzantine Empire in the 12th and 13th centuries. It's been painstakingly carved with two saints, Saint Demetrios and Saint George.
This piece of historical bling is an enamelled gold earring or pendant set with three pink sapphires and seven small round emeralds, although one is sadly missing. A pale-pink briolette spinel hangs below.
This scent bottle may be small, but that didn't stop the creator from decorating it richly. It's a gold, enamel and gem-set flask with a screw top and chain, and would have contained perfume made from flower distillations and spices.
This Egyptian cameo depicts the head and shoulders of a mysterious Ptolomeic queen... possibly even Cleopatra herself, represented as the goddess Isis with a vulture head-dress.
You heard it on the grapevine: this pair of matching pendants may have been ear-rings. They are formed from amethyst and emerald to resemble bunches of red and white grapes.
Remember to exit through the gift shop on the way out where you'll find our Cheapside Hoard range: http://bit.ly/shopthecheapsidehoard
#SupportMuseumShops #AdoptAShop
#SupportMuseumShops #AdoptAShop
