Jewellery hoard

Roman

Chelmsford Museum and the Essex Regiment Museum

4th Century

A hoard of Late Roman jet jewellery, discovered during excavations off Hall Street in Chelmsford (the Roman town of Caesaromagus). The jewellery is exquisitely carved and includes a Lion pendant, an articulated necklace and bracelet, hairpins, an armlet, and the Medusa Pendant, described as 'the finest found in Britain'. The collection illustrates the adornment of a wealthy lady of Late Roman Britain, and is likely to have been a votive deposit. Jet is a form of petrified wood and was collected at Whitby in Yorkshire.

• Medium: jet
• Dimensions: various dimensions
• Art Fund Grant: £930 ( Total: £3,750)
• ArtFunded in: 2007
• Vendor: Joseph Mandel

Provenance

Excavated in 1972 in Chelmsford; on permanent display at Chelmsford Museum since 1991.

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