The installation of SOLD! has been gathering pace the last two days, and with two more install days to go before the Preview Event on Friday the exhibition space has been a place of calm energy!
The loan objects from the Victoria & Albert Museum arrived and have all been placed safely into their respective museum cases and plinths – the consensus was that they all look wonderful – here’s a brief ‘preview’ of just 2 of the V&A’s objects safely installed; the world-famous bronze statuette of Meleager by ‘Antico’ in his case, next too another very famous object, the George III coin and medal cabinet – to the left is the Bowes Museum’s ‘Eleanor Bowes Cabinet’. They are, of course, left to right – ‘Temple Williams’, ‘H.C. Baxter & Sons’, and ‘Phillips of Hitchin’ (the dealers that SOLD! the objects to the museums). We still have to finish the displays of course and the labels etc…but hopefully it gives you a sense of what the final displays will look like – and will entice you to visit!
Installation of the SOLD! exhibition at The Bowes Museum.
There are also many more spectacular objects in SOLD! – including loans from the British Museum – here represented by one of the key objects, an amazingly rare Ming Dynasty ‘Palace Bowl’ (called the ‘Dragon Bowl’) dating from the 15th century – similar Ming Bowls were SOLD! by the world-famous dealers in Chinese Works of Art, ‘Bluett & Sons’. Here is the bowl, safely in its case. We have placed the case against an interior photograph of the shop of Bluett & Sons in 1926.
The ‘Dragon Bowl’ installed in the SOLD! exhibition at The Bowes Museum.
The exhibition space is looking more and more like it will do when SOLD! is finally completed on Friday; there’s still lots to do, but it’s definitely taking shape – here’s exhibitions assistant Jen, putting up some of the vinyl ‘floating quotes’ on the wall – you’ll have to come and see SOLD! to see the quotes, and their subtle role in the exhibition…
Jen, putting up the vinyl ‘floating quotes’ on the walls for SOLD!
In the photograph, the exhibition space still looks a little bit like a ‘work in progress’, but then that’s exactly what it is!
Today (Thursday) we are completing the ‘stocking up’ of the 1850 Old Curiosity Shop -it was slightly delayed yesterday with the careful unpacking and installing of the major loans from all of our key museum lenders – but we have our first objects in the 1850 shop! You can also see the fabulous range of ‘ancient armour’ ready to be placed in the 1850 shop on the tables outside the shop – the armour has been generously loaned by Preston Park Museum, Stockton – which has a truly amazing collection of arms and armour.
The 1850 Shop in SOLD!
Can you also see ‘Lovejoy’ looking out at us on the right!…
I’m learning an awful lot about Exhibitions through this major exhibition install project – I think, secretly, I might want to be a curator rather than an academic!…(ask me again though, after SOLD! opens!)
Mark
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