A Buried Treasure Of Jewels From 17th Century London To Go On DisplayIn October

The complete collection of 500 pieces of jewelry and gems from England’s Elizabethan and early Stuart periods will go on display for the first time at theMuseum of London, beginning October 11.

Known as the Cheapside Hoard, it is considered the world’s largest and finest collection of jewelry from these two important eras in British history. The items were accidentally found by construction workers 101 years ago hidden in a London cellar.

The pieces on display include cascading necklaces, Byzantine cameos and jeweled scent bottles. Highlights include a cabochon emerald and yellow gold salamander brooch, a watch mounted in a single large emerald with a translucent green enamel dial, and enamel and gem-set Elizabethan necklace chains decorated with floral motifs.

An oval gem engraved with the heraldic badge of William Howard, the first and only Viscount Stafford, (1612-1680), was the latest datable item in the collection. This and other clues led researchers to conclude that the treasures were buried between 1640 and 1666.

“The Cheapside Hoard has been swathed in mystery, rich in questions that had been left unanswered for too long,” said Hazel Forsyth, exhibition curator. “The Stafford intaglio has been absolutely vital in shedding new light on the collection, providing crucial dating evidence for the deposition of the Hoard between 1640 and 1666, and making a specific link to an individual who had international connections and a penchant for collecting gems and antiquities.”

The name, cheapside, was the name of the main shopping street in London during the 17th Century—cheap actually meant market. There were jewelers who worked on the street.

There is still plenty of mystery that surrounds the Cheapside Hoard. For example, researchers are fairly certain that the hoard represents a goldsmith-jeweler’s stock-in-trade. However, no one knows who this person was and why he hid the items and never returned for them.

The exhibition will consider these questions and others and will present the pieces within its historical context that will reflect the craftsmanship, taste and fashion of the period. It will also look at London’s role in the international gem trade in its age of global conquest and exploration.

The exhibition, The Cheapside Hoard: London’s Lost Jewels, will run till April 27, 2014. Sponsors of the exhibition are luxury jewelry brand, Fabergé, and colored gemstone mining and marketing company, Gemfields.

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