Towards the Reconstitution of the Arreton Hoard: a Case of Faked Provenances

The major Early Bronze Age hoard from Arreton Down in the Isle of Wight was made known to the Society of Antiquaries as early as 1735. Until recently however, half of the hoard had remained unlocated since 1737, when it was drawn by Charles Frederick. His drawings, which appear in the Society's MS 265, have been instrumental in relocating five of the missing bronzes; four of these were found to have acquired false provenances. This paper traces as far as possible the varied histories of ownership of the Arreton bronzes and in conclusion draws some lessons from the problem of uncorroborated provenances. For the first time the whole of the known hoard is illustrated together.