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Yale Center for British Art opens Making History. Antiquaries in Britain

The Yale Center for British Art presents Making History. Antiquaries in Britain an exhibition, on view February 2–May 27, 2012, of historic treasures of international importance from the Society of Antiquaries of London, a society for people concerned with the study of Britain’s past that was established three hundred years ago and still thrives today.


J.M.W. Turner, Saint Augustine’s Gate, Canterbury, ca. 1793, watercolor and graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.

Through more than one hundred forty objects, including works from the Center and other collections at Yale, Making History: Antiquaries in Britain will explore ways in which scholars have recorded, preserved, and interpreted history since the Society was founded in 1707. The exhibition marks the first North American tour of objects from the Society’s collection and has been organized by the Society of Antiquaries of London in association with the Yale Center for British Art and the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, where it will debut in September.

The idea of Britain as a nation was promoted following the Act of Union between England and Scotland in 1707, and gave rise to a growing appreciation of British history and antiquities. The Society of Antiquaries, founded prior to national museums, libraries, and galleries, was long regarded as the main repository in Britain for antiquities, drawings, rare books, manuscripts, and paintings.

On view will be key loans from the Society, including a copy of the Magna Carta from 1225 and the twelfth-century Winton Domesday book. The exhibition will also feature a rare Late Bronze Age shield (ca. 1300–1100 bce) discovered on a farm in Scotland in 1779; a medieval processional cross reportedly recovered from the field of the Battle of Bosworth (1485); the inventory of Henry VIII’s possessions at the time of his death (1550–51); a forty-foot-long illuminated “roll chronicle” on parchment detailing the genealogical descent of Henry II from Adam and Eve; detailed records of lost buildings and objects; an outstanding collection of historic royal portraits from Henry VI to Mary I; and works from the Arts and Crafts movement by William Morris, a Fellow of the Society and founder of the English Arts & Crafts movement whose country house, Kelmscott Manor, is owned by the Society. These loans will be displayed alongside objects from the Center’s celebrated collections of rare books and drawings, including maps, atlases, and works by Samuel Palmer, Edward Burne-Jones, and Augustus Welby Pugin.

Making History has been curated by Elisabeth Fairman, Senior Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Yale Center for British Art, and Nancy Netzer, Professor of Art and Director of the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College—both Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London—in association with Heather Rowland, Head of Library and Collections, and Julia Dudkiewicz, Collections Manager, Society of Antiquaries of London.

Making History is based on an exhibition shown in 2007 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in celebration of the Society’s tercentenary. It was curated by David Gaimster, former General Secretary and Chief Executive, Bernard Nurse, former Librarian, and Julia Steele, former Collections Manager, Society of Antiquaries of London; and guest curator David Starkey.

Yale Center for British Art
1080 Chapel Street P.O. Box 208280 New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8280
+1 203 432 2800 f +1 203 432 9628
[email protected]
britishart.yale.edu

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