03/05/2004 Entry: "Dust off the Dodo Exhibits the Best of Yorkshire Museums"

Odd Finds in York
Precious treasures, rare discoveries and unique creations from the collections of York Museums Trust are to go on display in a fantastic new exhibition starting in May at the Yorkshire Museum, York.Dust off the Dodo Fabulous Finds That Time Forgot will showcase some of the Trusts rarely-seen gems and will tell the fascinating stories behind an array of unusual artefacts, many of which have not been on public display for several years.

The story behind the Trust’s collection of dodo bones, for example, will be part of a group of exhibits exploring the theme of extinction. The bones date from the most significant find of dodo remains ever in Mauritius in 1865 and were donated to the museum in 1866 by North Yorkshire man Harry Pasley Higginson. New research by Higginson’s great grandson Alastair McOran-Campbell suggests Higginson’s discovery of dodo bones prompted this major dig.

The find came 200 years after the bird’s extinction and at a time when fascination with the species was high with the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the same year.

Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to see the 5ft skeleton of another extinct, flightless bird, the moa, which lived on New Zealand. The skeleton was described as the largest and most perfect known to science at the time of its acquisition in 1876. There will also be a look at the fate of the great auks, which lived in northern Europe including Iceland, Scotland and Scandinavia, and the passenger pigeon of the USA.

Other themes will be developed during the exhibition’s run and the displays will be changed during the year to give visitors a chance to see different items when they make a return trip.

Highlights of the exhibitions include:

The map that changed the world – the ground-breaking geological map created by William Smith, the founding father of geology;

Two of Andy Warhol’s portraits of Marilyn Monroe – famously created by the Pop Artist following the death of the cinema idol in 1962;

The Middlesbrough Meteorite – hit the earth back in 1881 and is nearly 4.5 billion years old;

Carved alabaster panels from the 15th century showing scenes from the life of St William of York – discovered stacked in the ground in York as if deliberately buried at the Dissolution;

The first-known printed and dated Valentine card in the world – published in 1797

Spectacularly-coloured crystals from the Greenbank collection – probably the finest collection of Northern England minerals outside the national museums;

Thomas Haxby’s 1777 Harpsichord - a unique piece of craftsmanship from a York master.

All of York Museums Trust’s collections, which range from archaeology to Fine Art to costume, are “designated” - an official recognition of their national importance. However, many items have to be kept behind the scenes in storage for much of the time because of limited public display space and because of the dangers of exposure to light.

The exhibition will be the first which has included the combined collections of York Museums Trust, which was set up to manage York Art Gallery, York Castle Museum and the Yorkshire Museum, in 2002.

Mary Kershaw, Director of Collections at York Museums Trust, said: “York Museums Trust holds a treasure house of material in its collections, including exquisite, quirky, unique and spectacular items. “We are very excited about this exhibition which will celebrate some of the highlights of our collections.”

A programme of events will also be organised to coincide with the exhibition.

Admission
Admission will be £4 for adults, £3 for concessions, £2.50 for children and free for York residents, on production of a York card.

Contact
http://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/