The Waddesdon Bequest at the British Museum
Banking heir Rothschild’s beautiful collection of flamboyant treasures – including some masterful fakes - goes on display at the museum.
Philippa Stockley
17 February 2016Turquoise: a glass goblet from the late 15th century is enamelled and gilded with pairs of lovers.
Left: a glass beaker, c1673. Adding arsenic to the glass before firing gave it a remarkable opalescent finish.
Right: One of a pair of vases circa 1565-1571. Formerly owned by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill, they are made of tin-glazed ceramic. Left: Miniature tabernacle and case featuring boxwood, leather and gold fittings circa 1510-1525. A prayer aid, it opens like a flower to reveal a minute carving with scenes from the life and passion of Christ.
Right: A stunning 17th-century silver-gilt boar cup — the head comes off to allow the user to drink the contents.
Treasures beyond your wildest dreams. That’s the only way to describe the contents of the British Museum’s latest display, the Waddesdon Bequest, showing 265 medieval and Renaissance pieces collected by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild in the 19th century.
Flamboyant jewels
Right: One of a pair of vases circa 1565-1571. Formerly owned by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill, they are made of tin-glazed ceramic.
Right: A stunning 17th-century silver-gilt boar cup — the head comes off to allow the user to drink the contents.
Keen on provenance
- The Waddesdon Bequest at the British Museum opens on June 11.
Images: The Waddesdon Bequest. The Trustees of the British Museum