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Decorations: Alfred
Asser tells us that King Alfred sent rich presents to the inhabitants of the Indian peninsula, and received from them jewels of considerable value. The famous gold enamelled jewel of that monarch, in the Ashmolean Museum, is a fine example of the goldsmith's art at this period (871 to 901 A.D.). It was discovered in 1693 near Athelney Abbey, in a part of Somersetshire which had often been visited by Alfred, and to which he had retreated when worsted by the Danes in 878. It is formed of gold elaborately wrought in a peculiar kind of filagree, mixed with engraved and chased work. The legend round the edge of the jewel, "+Aelfred mee heht gevvrcau" (Aelfred ordered me to be wrought), is cut in bold characters, the intervening spaces being pierced, so that the crystal within is seen. The face is formed of a piece of rock-crystal, four-tenths of an inch in thickness, under which is placed the singular enamelled subject of which no satisfactory solution is given. It has been supposed to be a representation of the Saviour, St. Neot, St. Cuthbert, or Alfred himself. The workmanship is very curious; the design was first traced out in filagree attached to a face of the plate of gold, the intervening spaces were then filled up with vitreous pastes of different colours, so that at first sight the work appears to resemble a mosaic, but there is little doubt that the colours were fixed upon the plates by fusion. The ground is of a rich blue, coloured, probably, by means of cobalt; the face and arms are white, slightly shaded; the portions which are represented in a woodcut as shaded diagonally, are of a pale translucent green, and those which are hatched with perpendicular lines are of a reddish brown, the vitreous pastes in this instance are semi-transparent, and of a crystalline crackly appearance, resembling some specimens of quartz.
A convex brooch of gold filagree, set with pearls, and a central enamelled ornament, precisely similar to Alfred's jewel in the mode of execution, was found in 1840 about nine feet beneath the surface of the ground in Thames Street, London.
In 926, Hugh-le-Grand sent a splendid legation to Athelstan with the request for the hand of his daughter, Eadhilda. They bore such treasures as England had not yet seen--the precious onyx vase, embossed by Grecian art, exciting the marvel of the beholders, who declared that the corn seemed waving, the tendrils growing, the figures instinct with life; brilliant gems among which the emerald shone resplendent, etc.
King Athelstan, we are told, had received from his grandfather, King Alfred, amongst other rich presents, when a boy, a belt studded with diamonds, and a Saxon sword in a rich golden scabbard.
William of Malmesbury relates of the rich ornaments belonging to royalty, displayed in the ceremonies of the Saxon court, that the eyes of the ladies rested with pleasure upon the splendid jewels, especially on the emeralds, the greenness of which, when reflected upon by the sun, illumined the countenances of the bystanders with agreeable light.
The fibulae, or brooches, of Anglo-Saxon work which have been discovered in graves, etc., are remarkable for their excellence and beauty. A splendid specimen of these ornaments was found in 1771, near the neck of a female skeleton in a grave on Kingston Down. The shell of this brooch is entirely of gold. The upper surface is divided into seven compartments, subdivided into cells of various forms. Those of the first and fifth are semicircles, with a peculiar graduated figure, somewhat resembling the steps, or base, of a cross, which also occurs in all the compartments, and in four circles, placed cross-wise with triangles. The cells within this step-like figure and the triangular are filled with turquoises, the remaining cells of the various compartments with garnets, laid upon gold-foil, except the sixth, which forms an umbo, and bosses in the circle, which are composed apparently of mother-of-pearl.
The arts of cutting and setting precious stones in crowns, rings, and other ornaments, were well known in Britain during the Norman period, for it does not seem probable that all the jewels (which appear to have been very numerous and valuable) in the possession of our kings, nobles, and prelates, at this period, were of foreign workmanship, though Henry III. (thirteenth century) was one of the most indigent monarchs that ever filled the throne of England, yet he had many curious and precious jewels which he was sometimes obliged to pawn. Among those which he pledged to the King of France in 1261, for five thousand marks, and redeemed in 1272, there were no less than three hundred and twenty-four gold rings, set with precious stones of various kinds. The contemporary chronicles of Henry III. give glowing accounts of the festivities attending his marriage with Eleanor of Provence in 1236. The jewels and dresses which the youthful bride wore on this occasion were magnificent. Among the wedding presents given was one from her sister, the Queen of France. It was a large silver peacock, the train of which was set with pearls, sapphires, and other precious stones.