Drawing of Viking gold armlet from Ireland, c.1812-13 (pen, ink & wash on paper)

In 1802 two Viking hoards of gold and silver were found on Hare Island in the River Shannon in Ireland. One of the hoards consisted of two armrings of gold, dated to the late ninth to the early tenth centuries. The hoards came into the possession of the silversmiths Rundel and Bridge in London, who exhibited them to the Society on 26 November 1812. One of the Society's Fellows, Francis Dounce, urged the Society to commission drawings of the hoard before it was melted down for bullion. These drawings, showing several view of one of the gold arm rings, were made by the Society's draughtsman Richard Smirke, and published in Vetusta Monumenta in 1819. All pieces from the hoard are presumed to have been destroyed.