A treasure hoard

[Alibear]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/09/staffordshire-treasure-stirs-midlands-soul

 

Some Staffordshire clay has come home clinging to the sinuous curves and filigree ornament of the most spectacular heap of Anglo-Saxon golden loot ever found.

 

More than 100 pieces of the Staffordshire Hoard, a glittering treasure from the world of Beowulf, news of which has gone around the world in eight months, is back in the county that hid it for 1,300 years.

 

Many objects, including a gold horse intricate as a piece of lace and no bigger than a postage stamp, have never been displayed before. Among them are images of wolf warriors, first published in the Guardian. These will be in the exhibition opening this weekend at the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, not 30 miles from the nondescript field where the treasure was found.

 

Local people were anxiously checking opening times at the museum information desk. "This is a part of our history and we still don't know the questions it will answer. It is a huge thing for us to have it here," Deb Klemperer, senior collections officer, said.

 

The same reddish Mercian clay that made the Six Towns world famous as the heart of the potteries industry and formed over a tonne of Saxon pots in the museum's collections, is clinging to many of the pieces of gem-studded gold on display.

 

One still has blades of grass that grew up through it in the newly ploughed field. "And there could be blood on them as well. These pieces still have a lot to tell us," Klemperer said.

When a small army of excavators hit the field last July, the police cover story was that they were investigating a murder. There may well have been a murder, but it was a long time ago. Unlike the coins and women's jewellery usually found in hoards, the pieces reek of battle and a macho warrior culture. They include scores of sword hilt and pommel decorations, fierce little animals biting their own tails and legs, from helmets and shields, and Christian crosses wrenched from their original mounts and folded as casually as a pair of socks.

"It's warrior booty, and we would all like it to turn out to belong to Penda, who died in battle in AD654 having killed two kings and a saint," Klemperer said.

 

She even wonders if the cross could actually have been looted from the saint: Edwin, who was struck down in battle by Penda in 632. Edwin is recorded as being sent lavish gifts by the pope to nail his commitment to Christianity. The theory interested the Vatican sufficiently for representatives to put in a few phone calls about the hoard.

 

Last July, when Klemperer first saw a photograph of one of the pieces, she was reduced to tears by its beauty. When in September she spent a day with the local coroner poring over the whole collection – more than 1,600 pieces – she had to lie down for a while in a darkened room when she got home.

 

An amateur metal detector called Terry Herbert found the first piece of garnet-studded gold in Fred Johnston's field in early July, changing both men's lives forever. He called in the professionals in something like panic when his whole dining table was covered in gold.

 

The hoard has sparked intense local interest and pride. When first displayed last autumn at Birmingham City Museum, thousands queued for up to half a day to get in, despite opening hours being repeatedly extended. It was the most successful exhibition in the museum's history. This time Stoke asked for volunteers to help with the expected torrent of visitors – including Charles and Camilla next week – it got twice as many as it needed, and it has signed up 4,500 unpaid working hours.

 

The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday and is free. But the museum hopes money will pour into collection boxes for the appeal fund set up by the Art Fund charity, to help the Potteries and Birmingham City Museum raise £3.3m, the value fixed by the independent experts of the Treasure Valuation Committee.

 

The appeal is supported by the historian David Starkey, who memorably described the hoard as "gangland bling". In a rare display of unanimity, the leaders of all three major political parties are backing the appeal, as are celebrities including Dame Judi Dench.

 

Since it was launched last month, more than £600,000, including £80,000 in small donations from the public, has come in. The museums have until 17 April to find the reward, which will be shared between Herbert and Johnson. Lots more will be needed, however, to pay for conservation and research work, which will keep scholars arguing happily for generations to come.