| A Rothschild Renaissance: A New Look at the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum Contributor(s): Shirley, Pippa (Editor), Thornton, Dora (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0861592123 ISBN-13: 9780861592128 Publisher: British Museum Press OUR PRICE: $76.00 Product Type: Paperback Published: August 2017 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Art | History - Renaissance - Antiques & Collectibles |
| Series: British Museum Research Publications |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 8.2" W x 11.6" (2.30 lbs) 200 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In 1898, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild bequeathed to the British Museum the contents from the New Smoking Room at Waddesdon Manor, a collection of nearly 300 objects to be known as the Waddesdon Bequest. The Bequest contains some of the most beautiful examples of medieval and Renaissance craftsmanship, including exquisite pieces of jewelry, silver plate, painted enamels of Limoges, glass and microcarvings in boxwood. It is the only permanent collection to have a gallery to itself in the British Museum, one that has been redesigned for the 21st century which opened to great acclaim in 2015. To coincide with the new gallery supported by the Rothschild Foundation, a conference was held that opened up this remarkable collection to leading specialists who spoke on all areas of the Bequest. Subjects included new attributions for sculptures, a detailed discussion of the making and marketing of forgeries by Salomon Weininger, Fr d ric Spitzer and Alfred Andr as well as new research on jewelry and its presentation both at Waddesdon Manor and in the new gallery at the BM. The collecting tastes of French and English Rothschilds were compared and contrasted, and a line of Arabic poetry enameled on the Palmer Cup newly identified. This book presents these findings and positions the Waddesdon Bequest within a wider intellectual and historical context for the first time. |
Contributor Bio(s): Shirley, Pippa: - Pippa Shirley is Head of Collections and Gardens at Waddesdon Manor, a National Trust house managed by the Rothschild Foundation in Buckinghamshire which is home to the Rothschild Collections of art and decorative arts. Before this she was a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, specialising in silver, and at the British Museum, working on the medieval collections.Thornton, Dora: - Dora Thornton is Curator of Renaissance Europe and Curator of the Waddesdon Bequest at the British Museum. She curated the new permanent gallery, funded by the Rothschild Foundation, for the Waddesdon Bequest, a Rothschild Kunstkammer in the British Museum. Her most recent book, A Rothschild Renaissance, was published to accompany the gallery opening in June 2015. |