Society of Antiquaries of London

Society of Antiquaries of London We support conservation & scholarship related to material culture.
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The Society of Antiquaries of London focuses on the 'encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'. It supports an elected Fellowship of 3,000 academics, professionals, researchers, scholars and others working with material culture. It also supports conservation and grant programmes, a Public Lecture Series, an aca

demic lecture series for Fellows, and a conference and seminar programme. It manages an important research library and a museum at Burlington House as well as a historic property, Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, that was the former Cotswold retreat for William Morris and his family.

Created by an unknown artist, this icon shows John the Baptist in full length, facing the viewer against a featureless g...
04/09/2026

Created by an unknown artist, this icon shows John the Baptist in full length, facing the viewer against a featureless gold background.

Various artistic details allow us to infer information about the period and maker of the work: St John’s unkempt hair and beard are depicted in the stylised manner typically adopted for paintings of the Baptist by Cretan artists. The presence of areas of lighter tone on his face, suggesting paler skin, was a technique introduced into post-Byzantine paintings.

It was probably made in the second half of the sixteenth century, and it was given to the Society in 1938 by Gordon McNeil Rushford FSA.

Feet washed, grapes ready to be trampled! September, here we come!Part of the Book of Hours (use of Rouen), these pages ...
01/09/2026

Feet washed, grapes ready to be trampled! September, here we come!

Part of the Book of Hours (use of Rouen), these pages depict the occupation of the month and accompanying star sign. September is for grape harvesting and treading, all under the watchful gaze of Virgo for most of the month.

This book was written in France c.1500 and contains a sequence of gospels, psalms and prayers, pages of miniatures showing religious scenes, activities for each month, star signs, and calendars.

This gilded bronze cruciform brooch from Rothley, Leicestershire, was found in 1785. It was then presented to the Societ...
28/08/2026

This gilded bronze cruciform brooch from Rothley, Leicestershire, was found in 1785. It was then presented to the Society by Thomas Babington in 1788. It's been on long-term loan to Charnwood Museum since the 1940s. A beautiful watercolour of it was also created, to make a visual recording of the original.

The etching shows a plan of part of a Roman building at Haceby, Lincolnshire, with mosaic floors and also some pottery a...
27/08/2026

The etching shows a plan of part of a Roman building at Haceby, Lincolnshire, with mosaic floors and also some pottery and a column base found there.

The artist, William Fowler (1761-1832), was an architect and builder at Winterton, Lincolnshire. He drew and engraved separate plates of antiquities, including mosaic pavements, which were sold and distributed individually.

This manuscript contains a large collection of coats of arms, mostly in colour, relating mainly to the Holy Roman Empire...
24/08/2026

This manuscript contains a large collection of coats of arms, mostly in colour, relating mainly to the Holy Roman Empire, but also including arms of other European sovereigns and nobility as well as a selection of fictitious arms. The page shown here depicts the Arms of the Emperor Maximilian (d. 1519).

It was probably written in south west Germany or Switzerland and the volume is a compilation, written on at least two kinds of paper, trimmed, and bound partly out of order. Several sections are unfinished or incomplete and there is some repetition. There are also a number of blank printed or pen shield outlines, maybe meant to have been completed at a later date.

At first glance, this object might not look like much, but it has an interesting story behind it.This Roman altar from B...
21/08/2026

At first glance, this object might not look like much, but it has an interesting story behind it.

This Roman altar from Benwell, Northumberland, was found over three feet underground around 1751-1752, during the building of the road we now use as the A69. This altar was presented to the Society in 1759 by Judge Heneage Legge FSA.

The inscription ‘Lamis Tribus’ translates as ‘to the three witches.’ This unusual dedication is thought to represent an instance of Roman soldiers adopting local religious beliefs and combining these with their own rituals; a custom widely practised in many provinces throughout the Roman Empire and easily recognised in the language of and attitudes towards contemporary religious practice today.

'The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer' is the finest achievement of the Kelmscott Press, and as the last major volume to be pub...
18/08/2026

'The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer' is the finest achievement of the Kelmscott Press, and as the last major volume to be published before William Morris’ death, a fitting culmination of his efforts to create ‘the book beautiful.’ The publication provided a complete edition of Chaucer’s writings with type and decorations by Morris and illustrations by his close friend and collaborator Edward Burne-Jones.

The influence of Chaucer on both men rings true: many embroideries, tiles, and stained-glass designs, which are also part of the Society’s collection, are based on his 'Legend of Goode Wimmen', which this page from Morris' book is depicting.

This 14th-century work by Chaucer is a poem written as a dream vision, where Cupid berates Chaucer about how he has previously written about women. Cupid's queen, Alceste, says Chaucer should be given a chance at redeeming his reputation by writing about the nobility of love and the faithfulness of women. Chaucer agrees, and his poem looks at women from legend who have been faithful, even if it has lead to their death.

This heat has us considering whether the fashions of the Maeatae and the Caledonians (powerful tribes in Scotland during...
14/08/2026

This heat has us considering whether the fashions of the Maeatae and the Caledonians (powerful tribes in Scotland during the Roman occupation of Britain), as depicted in the 'The Costume of the Original Inhabitants of the British Islands' (1851), would be a good option.

Produced by Smith and Samuel Meyrick, the publication was the first to use archaeological evidence to help create visual images of an imagined prehistoric past. So while it may not be a wholly accurate recreation of the clothing, it does provide an insight into the assumptions of the time.

Text accompanying this image states that Pomponius Mela reported that "Brytons dyed their bodies with wode, but whether for ornament, or any other reason, it is not known". The text goes on to say "As late as the time of the emperor Severus they are represented as almost naked, wearing about their necks and bellies torques covered with twisted iron wire, which they regarded as great ornaments, and prized highly as other tribes did their silver and gold. Yet this nakedness did not proceed from want of garments, which were probably laid aside for a fight; but from their pride for they painted their bodies with various colours, and having punctured the skin, rubbed into the incisions which represented different animals, juice of the wode".

The 17th century saw a lot of cultural concern around eclipses, and what they may mean and portend. Nicholas Culpeper’s ...
12/08/2026

The 17th century saw a lot of cultural concern around eclipses, and what they may mean and portend. Nicholas Culpeper’s Catastrophe Magnatum is one of the texts which delves into this theme, looking at year of 1652 where there was an eclipse named 'Black Monday'.

Culpeper gives warnings that the eclipse signals doom in multiple forms, such as 'impediments that shall fall upon men, by reason of Thunder and Lightning: but my own opinion is the chiefest danger is in the Lightning, and this danger is most like to fall about the Western parts of the World; the Earth hath got a hot and dry disease, being exceedingly distempered for want of water; and that water which doth fall from the skies, it comes in such violent storms.' Strangely relevant to our present heatwave...!

He also has warnings directly for London: 'London, beware of fire; beware of quarrelling, thou hast got but little by playing such pranks before, thou art likely to get less by such another action: the Pestilence is likely to begin this year, God in mercy doth it to shew what he will do the following year.'

Our copy of his Catastrophe Magnatum also has a remark to the reader that the woodcutter did a woodcut of the moon incorrectly for one of the illustrations. He remarks 'Gentle Reader, Please to take notice, that the Cutter (through neglect) hath not placed the centre of the Moon at the beginning on the line of Incidence, as he should have done. Humanity can but ere; therefore, let thy pardon argue the greatness of thy humanity, since the disease is Epidemical.'

The solar eclipse of 11 August 1645 (recorded in the Julian calendar format) was referred to in famed English astrologe...
12/08/2026

The solar eclipse of 11 August 1645 (recorded in the Julian calendar format) was referred to in famed English astrologer William Lilly's publication, The Starry Messenger. This was a hybrid solar eclipse that Lilly used in a horoscope where he wrote a prophecy forecasting the downfall and ex*****on of King Charles through thinly veiled words.

He wrote:
"This [eclipse] is like to be fatal to be Kingdom of England; for in Figura mundi, Saturn was in his fall. In this present Eclipse, Mars, that hath sole dominion in the Ascendant and place eclipsed, is in his detriment. It cannot be the death of any vulgar or ordinary man, that is hereby intended to be sent to another world. Mars represents great persons, principal Commanders in our: Armies as well as His Majesties. Truly I fear an eminent Commander.....You that are in esteem like Princes, and domineer like little Kings, beware every one of you, in every County and City; you are said to be gods, you shall die like other men, disgraced, odious."

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