Pump Room exhibits to represent county for BBC
AN ancient Egyptian mask and a pair of Fabergé cufflinks at Harrogate's Royal Pump Room Museum have been chosen to represent North Yorkshire in the BBC's A History of the World project.
BBC York and North Yorkshire and museums across the county have produced a list of 10 objects that tell A History of the World for North Yorkshire.
The items were selected from more than 50 museums by Mary Kershaw, the former head of museums and arts for Harrogate Council and former director of collections at York Museums Trust.
Mrs Kershaw said it was difficult to decide which objects should make it into the top 10. She chose a timeframe, spanning from Ancient Egypt to the Second World War and selected items that had both local and global significance.
Tsarina of Russia
The Ancient Egyptian mask is in the shape of the jackal-headed god Anubis, and would have been worn by a priest during the ceremony of mummification.
It came to Harrogate's collections through an unlikely source. Local farmer, 'Benny' Kent and his father were both collectors of antiquities and they amassed a vast collection, much of it Egyptian material, including the unique mask.
The Faberg cufflinks are from the Imperial Russian workshop. They came to North Yorkshire after the Tsarina of Russia gave them to a young Harrogate boy.
In May and June of 1894 Princess Alix of Hesse, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, visited Harrogate. She stayed at the lodging house of an ordinary couple, Mr and Mrs Allen.
Diamonds
On her arrival there she discovered that Mrs Allen had just given birth to twins and, seeing the event as a lucky omen, she asked if she could stand as their godmother. She also requested that the girl should be called Alix, after her, and the boy Nicholas, after the Czarevitch of Russia to whom she was engaged to be married.
The gold cufflinks made by Faberg, in the shape of the Imperial Russian Eagle set with diamonds and sapphires, were given to Nicholas Allen as a confirmation present in 1910. Other jewellery given to Nicholas by his godmother, who become the Tsarina of Russia, were presented to Harrogate Museums by Mr Allen's son in the Nineties.
A History Of The World is a unique partnership between the BBC, the British Museum and 350 museums and institutions across the country.
At its heart is a series on BBC Radio 4, A History Of The World In 100 Objects.
- View the items at the Royal Pump Room Museum which is open: Mon - Sat 10am - 4pm and Sun 2pm - 4pm.
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