Image: The Celtic gold twisted torc
The £45,000 gold torc bracelet is hoped to find a home in a museum or gallery for public display and study.
A temporary export bar has been placed on a Celtic gold twisted torc bracelet dating back to the Iron Age.
The bracelet, valued at £45,000, is an example of a personal ornament particular to Britain in the late first millennium BC known as a ‘torc’.
The export bar, put in place by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, is to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire it. Experts advise that the torc has been bent to form a bracelet from a larger ring, likely either from an arm ring or a small neck-ring for a child.
Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “This well preserved item brings our distant past into the present, and an opportunity to understand fashion and metalworking in a period of our history we are still learning so much about.
“I hope placing an export bar on this Celtic torc means a suitable UK buyer can be found so that the public have more opportunities to learn more about the lives of our ancestors.”
The Minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. The RCEWA Committee found the torc met the third Waverley criterion for its outstanding significance to the study of goldsmithing, personal dress and identity in Britain before the Roman invasions.
Committee member Tim Pestell said: “Made of 97% pure gold and conventionally dated to c.150 – 50 BCE, this bracelet is of a form unique to England. Because the production of Iron Age jewellery like this is still imperfectly understood, its study can yield vital information on the use and availability of gold, goldsmithing techniques and decorative styles during this period.
“I earnestly hope that a museum might be able to acquire this remarkable bracelet and enable the public to enjoy seeing it and learning the new stories that will be told as a result of its further study.”
The decision on the export license application for the torc will be deferred until the beginning of November.
