Gold and Silver Treasure

It has been a  busy June and July at Isle of Wight Auctions,  we were very pleased to offer specific auctions of good quality jewellery, another devoted to silver pieces and a third auction which had a great collection of antique and vintage Isle of Wight books.  With all these amazing items made from precious metals and fascinating historical books still uppermost in our minds,   it seemed good timing that a long planned trip to a National Trust property in Suffolk also took place.

Sutton Hoo, in Woodbridge Suffolk is home to a Royal burial site which  dates back to Anglo Saxon times.  ‘It is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time’  and well worth a visit to see the amazing gold and silver items which were dug up from a burial chamber in the center of a buried ship.  Some of the items on display are the actual pieces found, and some are replica’s, most notably the ornate iron helmet, the original of which can be found in the British Museum.

The story of the discoveries of the Sutton Hoo treasure has been made into a film for Netflix; ‘The Dig’, starring Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown; the self taught archeologist who works with Edith Pretty, to uncover the mystery of the unusual formations on her land;  it is an enjoyable and interesting watch and really helped to bring the Sutton Hoo landscape to life.

If you would like to find out more about Sutton Hoo visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo
There is also a very interesting page on the British Museum website.

In the meantime, we can’t promise priceless treasures in our auctions but we will continue to publish a variety of online auctions throughout August so keep looking at the website; you never know what you might find.