Treasures of the Black Death
Jewish wedding ring, Italy, c.1300, engraved gold, opaque red and translucent green enamel (courtesy of The Wallace Collection © Colmar treasure, MNMA)
Romantics interested in the idea of buried treasure should visit the Wallace Collection’s current exhibition, Treasures of the Black Death, on until 10 May.
The exhibition features two hoards of hidden treasure –jewellery, silver and coins – which were hidden by Jews at the time of the Black Death in the mid 14th century and were found only recently, one in French town of Colmar and the other in the German town, Erfurt. Both towns had thriving Jewish communities, well integrated into the town’s society and under the protection of the local rulers, but with the advent of the Black Death these former ties were forgotten as the Jews were blamed for the plague. Accused of poisoning the wells, many were massacred by the paranoid towns people and the lucky ones forced to flee. The assumption is that the treasure here was buried by frightened Jews who hoped to retrieve it when things had returned to normal but sadly never made it back.
As well as reminding us of this shameful episode, the exhibition tells us a lot about Jewish society during the Middle Ages. There are wedding rings and ‘double cups’ used as betrothal gifts which flesh out the details of Jewish personal life; the rings are in the shape of miniature houses that symbolize both the marital home and the Temple of Jersualem and are inscribed with the words ‘mazel tov’ which means good wishes. The silverware is also revealing; although there is a lot of religious silverware surviving in various museum collections, little domestic silver survives as it was not made to last, often being melted down and re-formed into the latest style as fashions changed. And of course the exhibition says a lot about medieval jewellery and metalwork in general – so often it’s only pieces from royal or aristocratic collections that survive but this collection shows us the quality of the craftsmanship and design common in goods owned by humbler (although obviously wealthy) members of medieval society.
www.wallacecollection.org
