The Cheapside Hoard

About this book

In 1912, laborers on a building site in Cheapside in the City of London unearthed a great trove of gemstones and jewels which had lain undisturbed for some 300 years. Known and celebrated as the Cheapside Hoard it is still the largest known cache of its kind in the world. These objects, dazzlingly beautiful, intricate and often astonishing, are evocative emissaries from London's past. The Cheapside Hoard remains the single most important source of our knowledge of the Elizabethan and early Stuart jewelers' trade and, by extension, life and fashion in London society of the era. London's Lost Jewels has been written to accompany an exciting new exhibition, which marks the 100th anniversary of the original public display and for the first time reveals the Cheapside Hoard in its glittering entirety. It provides much new information about the city's role in the international gem and jewelry trade during one of the most dynamic periods of English history. A wealth of fascinating stories and lavish illustrations bring these exquisite treasures to life.