CHEAPSIDE HOARD.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10748, 20 November 1928, Page 3

CHEAPSIDE HOARD.

WAKEIrtELj) HOUSE ’.JEWELS. ELIZABETH AND JACOBEAN ' ' ; - I TREASURES.' . ■ ;lt. is sixteen years since a box of valuable jewels was found during the excavations for tile building of Vrtikelield House, Cheapside, Britain, and it is 'of an unusually high order of craftsmanship. An interesting' 1 little book descriptive of the, ‘‘mid”, jnst issued by Mr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler, keeper and secretary of the London Museum, Lancaster House, .recalls a, very remarkable stbrv.

THE CORPORATION’S - CLAIM.. j' it was not until a year or more after the' discovery that the corporation. became aware that jewels found in the city were being exhibited at the London Museum. It seems that they were found by workmen engaged in excavating, the site for Wakefield House, and that they were sold to a collector interested in the London Museum. The men obtained sufficient money apparently to prevent them from carrying on their work with the pickaxe for some time. The jewel,s having keen found within the one square ipilc, the Lord Mayor claimed them as treasure , trove, as he was entitled to do by-ancient custom and charter, right. .

MR. lIAKCOURT’S OFFER. A correspondence took place between tho tnen city solicitor (Sir Homewood Crawford) and Mr. (afterwards Viscount) Lewis Harcourt, M R., who was a trustee of the London museum and British Museum. Mr. Harcourt said the element of treasure trove in tho “find” was extremely small, consisting only of the gold setting of the jewels and the gold base 'of some of the enamels, but any attempt to separate the two would result in the destruction of the artistic ; and antiquarian merits of the collection. He would, however, willingly agree to the Suggestion that some of the jewels should be deposited in the Guildhall Museum and some in the London Museum a label being attached to the case in each Museum stating that tho collection was the joint gift of the corporation of London and himself. Air. Harcourt admitted that he had not realised the city’s ancient r ghtsCof treasure trove.

THE LION’S SHARE. The legal definition of treasure trove extends only to bullion, and, in view of all the circumstances, the Corporation agreed to a compromise, net anticipating, however, that the London' Museum would take the lion’s share, or much more than the lion’s shade of tile precious jewels. Some of the gems are of classical or Byzantine origin, and not any of them are supposed to he of a later period than James I. There is little doubt that these treasures formed part of a jeweller’s stock, hut there are differences of opinion ns to the time when tlio v were ‘‘buried,” and also as to the motive which promoted the burial'. Jt was supposed that the box of precious jewels bad been h'dden about the time of the Great i' ire, but it seems more probable that it was soon after the year 1 GOO.

AT THE GUILDHALL. The City’s portion of the treasure was first exhibited in the. Guildhall Museum in 1916, Sir Charles Wakefield, upon the site of whose premises the treasure was found, being Lord Mayor. The collection includes an ovql watch with emerald face, and a striker of the period 15&0, numerous gold rings and chains set with amethysts, sapphires, and diamonds; onameTed and jewelled crosses, a crystal fragment, gold pendants—one bong in the form of a cross, enamelled at the hack, and,set with light colored rose-cut amethysts—fa nho'ders, a gold hairpin in the form of a shepherd’s crook, and numerous other objects of interest. A much smaller number of articles forming part of the hoard are exhibited at the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

BEAUTii'TL PLATES. .Mr. Mortimer 'Wheeler has produced a beautifully illustrated catalogue of the exhibits, some of the plates being in colors. “The hoard,” says the writer, “may bo said to constitute a new landmark in the history ol the ■ jewellers craft. The materials used—emerald from Columbia, topaz ana Amazon stone, probably from Brazil, chrysobervl cat’s eyes' spinel and iolitn from Ceylon. Indian rubies mid diamonds, lapis lazuli and turquoise from Persia, peridot from St. John’s Island in the Bed Sea, as well ns amethysts, garnets, opals, and other stones from nearer homeshow a surprisingly wide range, and reflect the precocious expansiveness of European commerce at the beginning of the 17th century.” The articles at the London Museum are exhibited in a large case, the beautiful and sparkling chains forming a line background to the smaller but no [ess interesting objects. One of these is a watch set in a single large emerald, of hexagonal shape. The loop is also set with small emeralds and with white enamel, and the face isenamelled green. This, like the watch at the Guildhall, has been dated by Mr. Percy Webster, Master of the Clock-makers Company in 1927, the date being 1600. There are a number of interesting hat ornaments hairpins, pendants, and ear-rings, the last-named having come into frequent use after long period of neglect. Even Charles 1, it is said, wore an ear-ring on the scaffold. # will 1 111 11 S