Cheapside Hoard of treasure found in London a century ago goes on show

Gems and fine jewels, some from Byzantium, stolen and then lost for hundreds of years go on display at Museum of LondonFor the first time since it was found more than a century ago, the entire glittering Cheapside Hoard has gone on display at the Museum of London – together with the skullduggery, forgery, fraud and even murder that lie behind the gleaming gems.The largest hoard of Tudor and Jacobean jewellery ever found – almost 500 pieces of extraordinary rarity and beauty – was unearthed in 1912, by the pickaxes of London workmen demolishing an old jeweller's premises on Cheapside in the City of London, a stroll from the present site of the museum.They stuffed the loot – rubies and emeralds, diamonds and sapphires – some that dated back 1,500 years to Byzantium, into pockets, hats and knotted handkerchiefs and took it to "Stony Jack", George Fabian Lawrence, an enigmatic character who ran a pawn shop and acquired objects for museums. He was known to pay workmen cash down, no questions asked, for any interesting finds.After a dust-up between several London museums about who should get the treasure, most of it went to the new London Museum, and there was a sensation when it opened in 1914 displaying some of the pieces, including a watch set into a single emerald the size of a small apple.When the first world war broke out, the treasure went into storage, and the whole collection never again came out of its bank vault, until the new exhibition – where visitors ente...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - October 10, 2013 Category: Science Authors: Maev Kennedy Tags: The Guardian Museums Culture News Archaeology Art and design UK news London Science Source Type: news