The Hockley Pendant is a diamond-shaped, gold

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

pendant dating from the early sixteenth century. The pendant was discovered in 2009 by four-year-old James Hyatt, while

metal detecting A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. A metal detector consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and ...

in a field in Hockley, Essex, with his father, Jason Hyatt. The pendant is decorated on the front with an image of a female saint supporting a cross. The back of the pendant displays an image of the

Five Holy Wounds In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotio ...

of Christ, and contains a sliding panel covering an interior space, which originally held a relic. The pendant was officially declared treasure and was acquired by the British Museum.

Description

The Hockley pendant is a diamond-shaped gold pendant with an attached gold

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. It is in length, weighs a third of an ounce (8.68g), and has a gold content of up to 73%. The front of the pendant is engraved with the image of a female saint carrying a cross. The cross is covered with marks that suggest drops of blood. Decorative foliage surrounds the central image. The figure is standing on a surface with a chequerboard design, indicating a tiled floor. The back of the pendant displays a heart, surrounded by four weeping cuts and drops of blood, suggesting the

of Christ. The inside of the pendant would have stored a relic, possibly a remnant of the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

. The four sides of the pendant display the names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, and decorative foliage. The inscription's words were believed to have the power to heal fevers and

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

, which was known then as falling-down sickness. The pendant's letters and decorative detail would have originally been enhanced with painted enamel. Objects such as the Hockley pendant were meant for "intimate inspection" and needed an owner's "physical interaction" in order to "release its spiritual value".

History

The pendant was discovered in 2009, by four-year-old James Hyatt and his father Jason Hyatt, from

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...

, while they were metal detecting in a field in Hockley, Essex. The pendant was officially declared treasure and was acquired by the British Museum. At the time, it was thought to be worth up to £2.5 m, which the Hyatt family and the landowner would have shared when the pendant was sold. However, the actual amount paid by the museum was only £70,000. The pendant front displays an image of a female saint, possibly

the Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loret ...

, or

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

. The back of the pendant contained a panel, which may have held a relic of the True Cross. Similar pendants had compartments for either a holy person's remains of their body or an item belonging to the holy person. The pendant's back panel was tightly closed when found. The pendant was later repaired by the conservation staff at the British Museum. The back panel was opened to reveal a few flax fibres. The pendant has been dated to the early sixteenth century, from 1500 to 1550. It was featured on episode 49 of ''

Britain's Secret Treasures ''Britain's Secret Treasures'' is a British documentary shown on ITV (TV network), ITV hosted by Michael Buerk and Bettany Hughes. The programme features fifty archaeological discoveries that have been made in England, Wales and Scotland by memb ...

'' on ITV in July 2012 "as one of the fifty most important archaeological finds made by the British public".

References

{{Authority control 16th-century works 2009 archaeological discoveries Christian reliquaries Individual pendants Archaeological discoveries in the United Kingdom Gold objects Arts in Essex Prehistory and Europe objects in the British Museum

Description

History

See also

References