Goldsmiths' Company's new exhibition looks at 4,500 years of golden treasures
In a world with jewellery both old
and new beguiling us with their diamond lustre and sapphire charms,
it's sometime easy to forget the raw and powerful qualities that
the original precious quantity, gold, can hold. Never tarnishing
with a glow that lasts beyond lifetimes, gold is a metal against
which all glory, either physical, financial, or empirical, has been
measured for centuries on end. It is no wonder then, that the Goldsmiths'
Company's new exhibition "Gold: Power & Allure", is by far
and away one of the most comprehensive collections open to the
public; with four hundred gold items spanning over four and a half
millennia, it has to be seen to be believed.
With an array of pieces from such a
vast measure of time, it's understandable that they've all been
loaned from renowned institutions and private collections the world
over. Allthough many have never been seen in public before, they
all share one common historical trait: most originated in Britain.
With a Diamond Jubilee just finished, and the Games around the
corner, it seems fitting that such an exhibition would take place
in 2012.
As Historian Dr Helen Clifford, the
curator of the exhibition, explains: "Gold: Power and Allure
presents the opportunity of a lifetime… With the focus on Britain
it has been possible to assemble a story that goes far back into
geological time and forward to the most cutting edge gold working,
where this country excels... In essence it is a story of global
connections and one where the familiar is transmuted into the
iconic, via the power of gold."
Unbelievably for a collection of
gold works so detailed and prepared, it's incredible to think how
the most ancient of them were discovered by pure
chance. Excavations for a new housing development in Amesbury,
near Stonehenge in 2002 revealed the burial of two men, thought to
date to 2300 BC. Each had a pair of small gold basket shaped
ornaments laid near them. Understandably for artefacts nearly 4,500
years old, although some of the earliest know examples of worked
gold, we still don't know what these pieces were used for though
some suggest they were hair ornaments.
Yet as you can see here, there is
much to admire both in the craft displayed by the gold working, as
well as the historical provenance accompanying each of them, be it
a more recent (and timely) example like the 1908 Olympic Gold Medal
for Rowing, won by Charles Desborough Burnell (1876-1969) for Great
British rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics at Henley, or the Blair
Drummond Looped Terminal Torc from the Iron Age, 300-100 BC. The
latter piece was made from a gold alloy using eight gold wires
twisted together, with intricately decorated terminals and short
safety chain. It marks a mix of Mediterranean craftsmanship and
more traditional Iron Age motifs, suggesting connections between
Scotland and Southern Europe.
There are surprises too, such as
the mischievous little mechanical mouse, attributed to Henri
Maillardet around 1810. Decorated with pearls and made in gold,
this life-size automaton is thought to be originally Swiss in
origin, but bought by John and Josephine Bowes in 1871 for their
museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham. Another fascinating golden
treasure is the Cromwell Trial plate, for the Trial of Pyx in 1649,
which holds particular significance for the Goldsmiths'
Company itself. At the trial of Pyx on the 9th
November 1649, it was found that there was a 'want of sufficient
p't of the Standard' of Crowne gould', and the Goldsmiths'
Company was immediately ordered to prepare a plate of crown
gold and one of silver, which they did and delivered the same to
the Council of State on 22nd November. These plates were vital in
allowing for samples to be readily cut so as to conduct comparative
assays to ascertain the veracity of coinage; thus explaining the
strange shape of the plate on display.
But gold work is not a lost art in
any way shape or form, as some new pieces on display more than
show. Wright & Teague's Power of Gold has been crafted from
fine sheets of 18ct gold, the collars are designed to be worn
individually or together, their striking silhouette taking
reference from an Elizabethan ruff - and of course from the Irish
Lunula, providing an artistic link spanning four millennia. The
Lunula itself is also on display, dating from 2000-1500BC it was
hammered out of gold and thought to adorn the necks or tribal
chieftains. Less than 200 gold lunulae are known and it is possible
they were all the work of a handful of experts. Three of them from
different sources are on display at Goldsmiths' Hall, and without
any supporting evidence these enigmatic objects continue to inspire
and beguile.
As impressive as our modern
computer displays and high-resolution digital cameras can reproduce
here, nothing compares to seeing these pieces and their magical
allure in person. The exhibition at Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster Lane.
London EC2V 6BN, runs until July 28th with free
admission, and details can be found here. www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk
