Prized treasure from the Galloway Hoard to go on show for the first time in Kirkcudbright

nms.ac.uk/gallowayhoard  

A selection of images is available to download here

The jar, which is around 5cm high and resembles an ornate perfume bottle decorated in gold filigree, is thought to have had an ecclesiastical function, and bears a Latin inscription also written in gold which translates as, “Bishop Hyguald had me made.” 

Painstaking conservation has now revealed that the jar was wrapped in linen, and placed in a leather pouch that was lined with silk. The pouch was then packed within a larger lidded vessel with two dozen other treasures. When first seen, the object was hidden within its wrappings, but 3D X-ray imaging produced in partnership with the British Museum allowed the object to be seen without damaging it. This produced the first glimpse of the inscription on the base, enabling it to be read and translated. Over a number of months, the object was carefully separated from the textile wrapping, a rare medieval survival itself, which includes Scotland’s earliest example of silk. These and other precious textile survivals had to be conserved with care, so the jar has never before been available for display. 

Dr Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said: 

“The rock crystal jar is one of the highlight objects from the Galloway Hoard. From the beautiful rock crystal itself, originally carved in the form of a classical Corinthian column two thousand years ago, to the incredibly intricate gold decoration added hundreds of years later and including a clear inscription identifying its owner, this one object exemplifies the complex, connected and historic nature of the Galloway Hoard.  The jar was the subject of international attention when we first revealed the inscription, and it’s great to be able to put it on display it for the first time in Kirkcudbright.” 

Cllr Maureen Johnstone, Chair of the Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee, said:

“We are excited to see this important and unique object in Kirkcudbright. Dumfries and Galloway Council is very proud of the ongoing partnership with National Museums Scotland which has already produced two superb exhibitions at Kirkcudbright Galleries. I have no doubt the Rock Crystal Jar will be a fascinating exhibit, I am looking forward to it.” 

Due to gaps in church records in the 9th century, when the hoard is thought to have been buried, it has not been possible to more precisely identify Hyguald or where exactly he was based, but it is likely that he was a Northumbrian bishop. The inscription was the clearest evidence that some of the material in the hoard may have come from a church or religious community in the early medieval kingdom of Northumbria, which included Dumfries and Galloway, and stretched as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Sheffield.  Since this was first read, a further translation of an Old English runic inscription from an arm ring in the Galloway Hoard has been proposed, describing a portion of the hoard as “the community’s wealth”.  

Another clear Christian association in the hoard is a magnificent Anglo-Saxon pectoral cross inscribed with depictions of the four apostles. The inscribed arm ring, the cross and most of the rest of the Galloway Hoard are currently on an international tour. Its debut showing at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard, continues until 27 July. The next touring venue has just been announced as Melbourne Museum, where the exhibition will run from 29 August 2025 to 26 January 2026. 

The Galloway Hoard was acquired by National Museums Scotland in 2017 with the support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, and the Scottish Government, as well as a major public fundraising campaign. Since then, it has undergone extensive conservation and research at the National Museums Collection Centre as well as having been shown at the National Museum of Scotland, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Kirkcudbright Galleries, where it attracted record-breaking visitor numbers. Further venues for the international tour will be announced in due course, as will plans for the hoard’s future display after the tour’s conclusion, including both in Edinburgh and in Kirkcudbright, near where it was discovered.    

The research in the hoard was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which awarded £1 million for the three-year research project *Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard*, led by National Museums Scotland in partnership with the University of Glasgow. The project has also seen collaboration with experts from across the UK and Ireland, including The British Museum, Oxford University, University of Wales (Trinity St David), St Andrews University, and University College Cork.