Uncovering priceless lost jewels at Pop-Up London: The Cheapside Hoard
Historic jewellery will be centre stage at an event organised by Birkbeck and the Museum of London
The largest and most exquisite collection of late 16th and early 17th century jewellery will be centre stage at an afternoon organised by Birkbeck and the Museum of London.
Historians will examine the contents and local context of the Cheapside Hoard - almost 500 precious gems, beautifully mounted in the finest examples of the gold and silversmith's arts, from Elizabethan and Jacobean London. The event takes place on Saturday 8 March from 1pm-4pm at the Museum of London in the City of London.
Enrol and buy your £30 ticket for Pop-Up London: The Cheapside Hoard
Demonstrations and talks
Hazel Forsyth, lead curator at the Museum of London, will explore the highly skilled techniques of jewellers from 400 years ago. Vanessa Harding, Professor of London History at Birkbeck, will investigate what Cheapside, Jacobean London's luxury shopping street, was like when the hoard came together.
Mike Berlin, lecturer in London history at Birkbeck, is helping to organise the event. He said: “This event will illuminate the absolutely amazing collection known as the Cheapside Hoard. We’ll get an opportunity to learn about how the hoard was discovered, how the jewellery was made and what this part of London was like in 1600. This is the first in what we hope will be a series of new special events held in partnership with the Museum of London.”
The Cheapside Hoard exhibition
The Cheapside Hoard - the subject of a major exhibition at the Museum of London - was found over a century ago by workmen at a house in Cheapside in the City of London. Artefacts in the Hoard include the beautiful and intricate salamander hat ornament (pictured right, © Museum of London).
Through new research and state-of-the-art technology, the exhibition showcases the wealth of insights the Hoard offers on Elizabethan and Jacobean London – as a centre of craftsmanship and conspicuous consumption, at the crossroads of the Old and New Worlds. It also explores the mysteries that remain, lost among the cataclysmic events of the mid-17th century: who owned the Hoard, when and why was it hidden, and why was it never reclaimed?
Tickets for the study afternoon include admission to the Cheapside Hoard exhibition.