Alistair Hardaker
Image: Tudor Heart - The Trustees of the British Museum
Museum seeks public donations after securing £500,000 from The Julia Rausing Trust towards the purchase discovered by metal detectorist in Warwickshire.
The British Museum has today launched a campaign to acquire the ‘Tudor Heart’, a gold pendant linked to Henry VIII and Katherine of Arago, priced at £3.5m.
The pendant was discovered in 2019 by a metal detectorist, and the museum said it now has the opportunity to purchase the Heart to stop it entering a private collection.
It hopes to raise the required £3.5m by April 2026 and has called for public support to achieve this goal. The campaign has already secured a donation of £500,000 from The Julia Rausing Trust.
The pendant will also be on view in at the museum’s Gallery 2 until April 2026.
The museum explained that the heart-shaped 24-carat-gold pendant “offers a rare glimpse of Henry VIII’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon, uniting the Tudor rose with Katherine’s pomegranate symbol”.
“Beneath, a banner reads tousiors, the old French for “always”, a poignant declaration of an eternal connection. Their marriage, lasting 24 years, was the longest of Henry’s life and shaped the early Tudor court with Katherine as a trusted partner of Henry sometimes acting as Regent in his times of absence.”
Research by the British Museum suggests the pendant may have been created for a tournament held in October 1518 to mark the betrothal of their daughter, Princess Mary, to the French heir apparent.
Unearthed in a field in Warwickshire, the heart was discovered and subsequently reported under the Treasure Act 1996.
Dr Rachel King, curator Renaissance Europe and the Waddesdon Bequest, said The Tudor Heart “offers new insights into the splendour of the court of Henry VIII and tells the often-forgotten stories of Katherine and Princess Mary.”
