Jacobean - Blog Posts

Elizabethan Jewelry Chains

 Let’s talk Elizabethan shiny things!

Left: Portrait of a Nobelwoman in a cartwheel ruff, attributed to John Bettes the Younger, 1585 Right: Portrait of a Lady Aged 21, Unknown Artist, c.1590

Specifically, I want to talk about jewelry chains. They were often worn just like necklaces, but they were also draped around the shoulders or draped in loops at the front of the bodice. They could be extremely long – one found in the Cheapside Hoard was 8 feet long! 

These chains are featured heavily in portraiture from the 16th and 17th centuries, and thanks to the Cheapside Hoard, we have quite a few extant examples of these jewelry chains.

The Cheapside Hoard was found during the demolition of a house near St. Paul’s Cathedral, back in 1912. As they broke through the floorboards of the house and into the much older basement, they discovered a cache of over 500 pieces of late Elizabethan and early Stuart-era jewelry. The jewels featured emeralds from Columbia, diamonds and rubies from India and Burma, ancient Egyptian and Byzantine jewels and coins, as well as delicate gold and enamelwork crafted by the goldsmiths in London. At the time, Cheapside was London’s main shopping center and the home to the majority of the goldsmiths. It’s thought that the hoard was buried to keep it safe, possibly during the English Civil War.

I set out on a hunt to find jewelry bits that resembled the links we see in the Cheapside Hoard pieces. Amazingly, I came across some suitable pieces on AliExpress!

Left: Chain from AliExpress Right: Detail of Cheapside Hoard chain, Museum of London

I didn’t set out to copy any one chain from the Hoard, but instead used the shapes and sizes of those chains to help guide me while I was buying my bits and pieces.

Finding the suitable pieces was really the most difficult part of making these chains. Once everything arrived, assembly was quick and simple.

I ended up with quite a variety of finished chains. None of them are as long as their cousins in the museums, but I think they’re a good start to my Elizabethan jewelry collection, and will definitely grace the front of many a bodice at future events.

Bibliography:

Cheapside Hoard Chains, London Museum —Enameled Chain of Flowers, Bows, and Leaves https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-119591/enamelled-chain-of-flowers-bows-and-leaves/ —Enameled Floral Chain https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-119585/enamelled-floral-chain/ —Diamond and Enamel Chain https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-119584/diamond-and-enamel-chain/

Cheapside Hoard Chian, V&A Museum —Chain, 1590-1620 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74076/cheapside-hoard-chain-unknown/

Forsyth, H. (2013). London’s Lost Jewels: The Cheapside Hoard. Philip Wilson Publishers.

Wheeler, R. M. (1928). The Cheapside Hoard of Elizabethan and Jacobean Jewelry. Antiquity: A Review of World Archaeology, 2(8). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/the-cheapside-hoard-of-elizabethan-and-jacobean-jewellery-by-r-e-mortimer-wheeler-london-museum-catalogues-no-2-1928-1s/1E585E583A88D8B55DB29EE30B85D79E

Ganoksin. (2016, October 19). The Cheapside Hoard – Ganoksin jewelry making community. https://www.ganoksin.com/article/the-cheapside-hoard/

Hackenbroch, Y. (1941). A jewelled necklace in the British Museum. The Antiquaries Journal, 21(4), 342–344. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003581500048381 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquaries-journal/article/abs/jewelled-necklace-in-the-british-museum/965C70079702E42C7096519CBF7A8470