We have saved the Settle!

Hello everyone,

we are very pleased to be able to announce that we have been successful in our attempt to acquire the beautiful zodiac settle, designed by Gothic Revival genius, William Burges.

Now, we have done several posts about this before with lots of background information about Burges, and about the settle. You can read our previous post here.

We are very pleased that the Daily Telegraph covered the story. You can read their coverage here. The settle is currently with our conservator. Sadly, it won't be on public exhibition until we reopen in 2012. However, it will form a central part of our new William Burges Gallery within the new Art Gallery & Museum, where it will be on display from 2012 onwards.

Most of all we would like to thank you all for your help and support in our campaign to save the settle. In particular we would like to thank our funders, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and the Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery who all made it possible for the settle to find a permanent home (and settle down) here in Bedford.

*Big Hugs*

Roses are red, violets are blue, today we present more Bawden for you

One of our favourite Bawden designs is a Valentines leaflet for Fortnum and Mason from 1956. Although the gifts advertised are a bit dated (not many women now receive a mink boutonniere from their beloveds or pearl handsewn hogskin gloves, both a very reasonable 5 guineas) the design and the poem are still charming.

My Valentine delights to tease me

Although he often tries to please me;

I’ve always found him quite unruly

Yet cannot help but love him truly

Were inconsolable apart…

What can I give to touch his heart?

My Valentine’s become a fixture,

She’s such a nice amusing mixture;

Though I’m her slave she’s not capricious;

Always looks and smells delicious;

I sometimes think the angels tend her…

St. Valentine – what can I send her?

What are you going to be doing whilst the museum is closed?

Hello all,

When ever we tell people that the museum is closed until the end of 2012, they frequently ask 'Wow! What are you going to be doing in all that time?' The answer, of course, is that we are going to be very busy getting ready for reopening. We're going to be keeping you up to date with everything going on here, and we would really like your comments, feedback and ideas to make sure that our new Art Gallery & Museum is the place for everyone to be in 2012.

Here is Tom Perrett, Head of Collections and Exhibitions talking about our plans for the next 18 months.



If you would like to hear more from Tom, and keep with all the redevelopment news, why not follow him on Twitter @tjperrett 

The beautiful things...

Dear readers,

As you know, we have been packing the museum collections and preparing to move them offsite so that redevelopment work can begin in earnest. One of the most rewarding aspects of this is that we get to see (and handle!) some of the remarkable objects in the museum stores. This morning I spent some time looking at the various remarkable urns and other pieces of assorted pottery in the archaeology collections. These things have been found locally (with some exceptions, of course, where would we be without exceptions?). I was especially drawn to the labelling on these objects. It is interesting to me that archaeologists put labels directly on objects.


Felmersham Churchyard: 4 feet deep

 
Coming from a Fine Art background, writing directly on an artefact seems fairly odd, and these artefacts have not only been written on, they have fragments of text cut out and stuck to them, and stenciling in two different colours. The reason for this labelling, is that for the archaeologist, the most important thing about the artefact is not what it looks like, but the information associated with it. What I like about it is the level of craftsmanship on these labels, they are a record of all the hands the artefact has been through, since it re-emerged into the world.


The text on this urn reads 'contained the remains possibly from a cowheard,
as the terminal of an ox goad was found with the cremation'

I think another reason that these labels struck me, was that they are so direct. As a digital and social web enthusiast, I seem to spend a lot of time linking things to things in the great big World-Wide Web. The cut and paste approach taken here seems very refreshing, and you can't say it doesn't work. That said, our Keeper of Archaeology, Liz Pieksma informs me that the remains in this urn are most likely 'not from a cowheard'.

A lot of the finds have the initials and names of the collector emblazened on them - Tom Perrett, Head of Collections and Exhibitions said 'to me this reflects the competition there was between antiquarian collectors to get their hands on the 'best bits'.'



( a fine specimen ampulla 1st Century) from the Elliot Collection


Some of the finds that I saw in the archaeology store had barnacles on them. Surely these weren't found in Kempston, Felmersham or Biggleswade? Indeed they were not. They were found off the coast of Kent, at the site of a famous shipwreck, Pudding Pan Rock! The pieces in our collection are very similar to others in The British Museum collection, where I found this description of how they were found.

'Fishermen often dragged up Roman bowls, plates and cups in their nets when they fished near Pudding Pan Rock. Sometimes the fishermen’s families cooked and ate from the bowls, but often they sold them to antiquaries. Gustavus Brander (1720-87), a Trustee of the British Museum, once served dessert to fellow antiquaries from dishes found at Pudding Pan Rock.

 There was much speculation about this pottery's origins in the 1770s and 1780s. In 1773 John Pownall went with a local fisherman to 'fish' for pottery and other artefacts in what was probably the first marine archaeological investigation to take place in Britain'

Roman pottery from Pudding Pan Rock

I love how beautiful the textures and shapes of all these objects are. There are quite a few more photos on Flickr. Have a browse and let know what you think of all these things. I especially like how the little handled jars have their papers tucked under their arms, I think it gives them a lot of personality!

High Kicks & Low Life: Lithography explained.....

To many people the idea of an original print can seem like a contradiction, with the connotation that, somewhere, there must be an ‘original’ work of art from which a reproduction has been made.

As we are currently hosting the British Museum’s touring exhibition of graphic works by Toulouse-Lautrec, I thought it would be a good idea to post about what we mean by the term ‘artist’s original print’ and to explain the process Lautrec used to create many of his most enduring images: stone lithography.

 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Marcelle Lender, en buste, 1895. Colour crayon lithograph

© The Trusttes of the British Museum

When making an original print, an artist will first choose the medium they want to work in. This could be lithography, etching, woodcut, or any one of a number of other methods, depending on the desired effect.

Marks are then made directly onto the printing surface and an impression is taken. The important thing here is that the resulting print is an original work of art – not a copy of an already existing image – which will be printed in an edition size chosen by the artist or a publisher.

Lithography is a very expressive form of printmaking. Artists can use materials that are very close to those they might choose for other mediums, which has made it popular as a technique since its invention at the end of the 18th century.

The original method, as discovered by Alois Senefelder, uses limestone blocks that are ground down to make a smooth, flat surface and relies on the interaction of two incompatible surfaces: grease and water. Marks are made directly onto the surface of the stone using grease-based substances, such as special lithographic crayons. With chemical treatment, the areas that have been marked will accept printing ink while the undrawn areas, dampened with water, remain free of ink. Finally, the image is transferred to paper by passing the stone through a printing press.

 Example of a stone prepared for a lithographic print.

This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 and is freely available at Wikipedia

Lautrec’s first lithograph was Moulin Rouge – La Goulue, which used four separate stones for the four main colours. He quickly mastered the technique and began to experiment with a range of techniques, including spatter, where paint is sprayed onto the surface of the stone by running a knife along the edge of a brush.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Moulin Rouge –La Goulue, 1890. Colour brush and spatter lithograph © The Trustees of the British Museum
From this early use of stone, other lithographic techniques have developed, including grained zinc plates and light-sensitive translucent film. For a glimpse of this magical printing technique being carried out today, you can’t do much better than this film showing Paula Rego at work with our friends at the Curwen Studio.

High Kicks & Low Life: our curators putting up the Toulouse-Lautrec Exhibition

In an anticipation of the exhibition opening on 15th January, here are a few pics of Tom, Kristian and Liz putting up the High Kicks & Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec Prints exhibition. And speaking of highs and lows we would love to hear what you're highs and lows are from the exhibition. Favourite print? Least favourite? Or perhaps something about the experience that you particularly enjoyed or disliked. You can let us know here, by commenting on the blog, or Tweet us or comment on our Facebook page. We would love to hear from you.

Online Gallery in the Independent Online

There is a lovely article and online gallery about our upcoming 'High Kicks & Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec Prints' in the Independent Online.

Out and About

Since the museum closed for redevelopment in October 2010, our education team haven’t been able to have schools come and spend the day at the museum. However, this hasn’t stopped them keeping busy. They have taken their programme on the road, visiting schools within a 1 hour radius, bringing artefacts, costume and lots of fun along with them. Here is some of the feedback we’ve received from children and teachers.

You can find out more about our education team, and the services they offer at http://www.museumeducation.bedford.gov.uk/formal2.htm

What's On - new leaflet out soon.

With less then 2 weeks left of our popular R100 & R101: Airships at Cardington Exhibition, it's high time we let you know what's coming up in the new year. Here is a preview of our new leaflet, which will be out soon.

Open publication - Free publishing - More museum

High Kicks & Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec prints - A British Museum Tour is our final exhibition before the gallery closes for a major redvelopment project. Read more about the redevelopment here. The exhibition runs from 15th January - 10th April 2011.

Bedford Gallery will be closed from 19th December - 15th January whilst we changeover the exhibition. The curatorial staff will all be working hard over the Christmas holidays installing the works from the British Museum alongside some pieces from the Cecil Higgins Collection by contemporaries of Toulouse-Lautrec. We'll be sure to keep you updated with our progress and we hope that you're as excited as we are about the imminent arrival of so many Toulouse-Lautrec prints here in Bedford.

Update: We need your help to save the Burges Settle for the Nation

We need your help to save the Burges Settle for the Nation!

We have secured £400,000 from the NHMF, £150,000 from the Art Fund and £100,000 from The Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery. We are nearly there but we still need to raise £100,000 from other sources.

Every penny counts!

If you would like to donate to the Burges Settle Campaign, please make cheques payable to The Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and send them to
Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, Castle Lane, Bedford, MK40 3XD

You can Gift Aid your donation. Simply email gemma.hutton@bedford.gov.uk to request a Gift Aid form.

The export bar on the settle only lasts until 20th December. Please do help us to acquire this wonderful, unique artwork for Bedford.

Open publication - Free publishing - More heritage