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Journal article
Voxpop: what is the future for Blockbuster exhibitions?
Fears have been raised that the UK's leading museums may be unable to stage the major exhibitions that attract visitors from all over the world if there is a no-deal Brexit.Huxtable, Sally-Anne
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Journal article
V&A Dundee
The bold architecture of this new museum makes a statement, but what's on offer inside?Huxtable, Sally-Anne
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Lecture
What’s Next for Period Drama?
This virtual conference will take place on 9th July 2021 and is organised by Anthony Delaney (History, University of Exeter) and Dr Madeleine Pelling (Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies, University of York). Hosted via Zoom, the day will bring together academics, journalists and professionals from the TV industry to ask ‘What’s...Montgomery, Grant ; Waine, Rosie
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Journal article
White walls, white nights, white girls: whiteness and the artistic interior, 1850-1890
Although in recent years some academic work has been undertaken about the use of colour, particularly blue, green and yellow, in Arts and Crafts and Aestheticism, little attention has been paid to the significance of the use of white in art, design and literature. Using as its starting point the...Huxtable, Sally-Anne
Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Colour, Aesthetic Movement, E. W. Godwin, and William Morris
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Journal article
Illustrating the design process: the Bernat Klein Collection and Archive, National Museums Scotland
Serbian-born textile designer Bernat Klein (1922–2014) emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1945 and based his textile manufacturing business in the Scottish borders. From humble beginnings this young émigré designer went on to produce couture fabrics for the leading fashion houses of Europe. Klein also worked as a colour consultant...Mason, Lisa
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Journal article
Drawing damaged bodies: British Medical Art in the Early Twentieth century
Historians are acutely aware of the role of art in medicine. Elaborate early modern works catch our eye; technical innovations attract analysis. This paper beats a different path by examining three little-known artists in early twentieth-century Britain who deployed what may seem like an outdated method: drawing. Locating the function...Alberti, S J M M
First World War, surgery, medical illustration, wounds, and pathology
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Journal article
Norman Dott (1897–1973) and medical illustration: the importance of art to neurosurgery
Anatomical information and pathologies have been conveyed through the medium of medical illustrations for centuries. In the formative years of British neurosurgery, Professor Norman Dott (1897–1973) utilised medical illustrations as a means of documenting neurosurgical advances and conveying pathological-anatomical correlation. He commissioned a vast number of medical illustrations over the... -
Journal article
21st-century Buffalo Boys: Intersectional approaches to the complexities of modern masculinity
Scottish-born stylist, Ray Petri, founder of the maverick Buffalo Collective, defined the look and feel of the radical fashion magazines such as i-D, The Face and Arena. The Buffalo Boy look pioneered a more sexually ambiguous form of fashion iconography, undermining the putative immutability of normative codes of gender and...Ripley, Georgina
Buffalo collective, gender, queer Black masculinity, Black sexuality, Campbell Addy, intersectionality, and Ibrahim Kamara
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Blog post
Artistic expressions of today: Climate change
Over the last year, we have acquired several artefacts that discuss how the impact of the pandemic and wider socio-political subjects have inspired the creation of some remarkable works of art, craft and design that reflect these times. Sarah Rothwell, Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Design, kicks off our...Rothwell, Sarah
Art & Design, Climate , Contemporary Collecting , COVID-19, and Climate Change
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Journal article
Notes on some Gold Coins of Gallienus and Saloninus
The coinage of the Valeianic dynasty (AD 253-68) is one for which, in recent years, it has proved impossible for any published reference catalogue to keep up with the number of new discoveries which are constantly being made.Holmes, N M McQ.
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Book
Kabuki: Japanese Theatre Prints
The popular form of traditional theatre in Japan, known as kabuki, combines drama, music and dance and is presented on spectacular stage settings in lavish costumes. In 19th-century Japan people eagerly acquired pictures of their favourite actor in the latest play. These woodblock prints were a cheap and colourful medium...Buckland, Rosina
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Lecture
Costume Society of America Roundtable: Tackling Tokenism and Diversity in our Museum Collections
Collecting and exhibiting fashion in Western museums has traditionally centered around wealthy, able-bodied, mainstream, Eurocentric ideals. Likewise, those working with costume collections have often fit this same mold. As we know, this is not representative of the diverse communities and cultures that these museums serve. The panelists spoke about how...Sklar, Monica ; Way, Elizabeth ; Lisby, Darnell-Jamal ; Neill, Susan ; Ripley, Georgina …
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Exhibition
Katherine Coleman: All year round 28 November - 23 December exhibition catalogue
Born in Sutton Coldfield in 1949, Katharine is a freelance glass engraver and designer. She was taught point, drill and copper wheel engraving on glass by Peter Dreiser at Morley College, Lambeth from 1984-7 and continues to explore these techniques at her workshop in Clerkenwell. Katharine engraves on clear lead...Watban, Rose ; Coleman, Katherine
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Blog post
Geometric Variations . . Paolozzi the designer
Paolozzi is celebrated for his robust larger-than-life sculptures but as Sarah Rothwell, curator at National Museums Scotland points out, Paolozzi worked extensively & brilliantly as a designer on the smaller-scale.Rothwell, Sarah
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Lecture
Celebrating Black Fashion
How are progressive changes within the fashion industry being documented through exhibitions and contemporary collecting? Join model and broadcaster Eunice Olumide as she shares her experience of a transforming industry with museum curator Georgina Ripley. Eunice and Georgina will also discuss Eunice’s recent book How To Get Into Fashion, focussing...Olumide , Eunice ; Ripley, Georgina ; Burkinshaw, Mal
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Interactive resource
What’s up with Bridgerton’s wardrobe?
Created by American costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, the costumes of Netflix hit series Bridgerton (of which there were some 7,500 pieces) unapologetically play with notions of historical accuracy. Utilising brash colours, almost absurdly high waistlines, zip fastenings, modern fabrics and machine embroidery, they also deviate from social norms and etiquette...Gernerd, Elisabeth ; Miranda, Cat ; McLeod, Miriam
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Interactive resource
Art, fashion and taste in a global context
Regency dress was shaped as much by the Neoclassical art movement and Greco-Roman dress as it was by Enlightenment theories and ambitions of Empire. In turn, fashion was depicted in classical art, sculpture and pottery. This final episode in the series explores the relationship between art and fashion as our...Miller, Marie ; Rauser, Amelia ; Blakey, Claire
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Blog post
The Roaring Twenties 2.0
The 1920s in the West is perceived as a decade of economic prosperity following the impact of the First World War and the Spanish flu. Remembered for social, artistic and cultural dynamism, the 1920s ushered in modernity via new technology and trends: from cars to cinema, fashion to music, and...Ripley, Georgina
COVID-19 , Art And Design , 1920s, and Jazz Age
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Journal article
Jewellery and Covid-19
Over the last 18 months the pandemic has affected many areas of life, with society witnessing huge changes globally, and museums acquiring artefacts and works of art, design and crat that reflected and responded to the impact of covid-19. In my own organisation, the approach has focused on a range...Rothwell, Sarah
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Conference paper (unpublished)
The Caquetoire Legacy
Deriving from a sixteenth century French type, this distinctive form of Scottish chair flourished throughout the seventeenth century. It was revived in authentic facsimile during the nineteenth century and continued in form and spirit to shape a range of modern variants. The speakers will address national and regional identity as...Jackson, Stephen
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Exhibition-related event
Spotlight On: Audubon’s Birds of America
Discover how Birds of America, one of the world’s rarest and most coveted books, was made, and learn about the ongoing conservation work to preserve these life-size, hand-coloured prints for future generations. Exhibition Curator Mark Glancy will discuss the journey of bringing the stories behind the Birds of America publication...Glancy, Mark ; Cumming, Lisa
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Blog post
Paper conservation: bringing Birds of America back to life
The book Birds of America is famous for its huge size. Over 40 large bird illustrations are on display in our exhibition, and each one requires care. Assistant Paper Conservator Kiri Douglas talks us through the conservation process and some of the challenges she facedDouglas, Kiri
Audubon , Paper Conservation, Birds , Conservation , and Natural Sciences
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Book
Nature's Palette: A colour reference system from the natural world
The first-ever visual expansion of Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, featuring over 800 illustration references from the natural worldBaty, Patrick ; Davidson, Peter ; Charwat, Elaine ; Simonini, Giulia ; Karliczek, André
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Lecture
A passion for glass
In 2009 National Museums Scotland was generously donated over 300 pieces of art and studio glass by the passionate collector, supporter, and promoter of contemporary glass Dan Klein (1938 – 2009), which he had amassed both separately, and alongside his partner Alan J. Poole. Klein notably championed the work of...Rothwell, Sarah
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Blog post
QR codes in museums – worth the effort?
If you’ve visited the National Museum of Scotland in the last year, you probably saw a QR code in one of our exhibitions. There’s a good chance you even used one! Did you get your phone out and scan it? Or walk on by? Adam Coulson looks into changes in...Coulson, Adam
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Book
Highland Style: Fashioning Highland dress c.1745-1845
For many people across the world, Highland dress, bagpipes and Highland landscapes are the images of Scotland that first spring to mind. Ideas about the Scottish Highlands which took hold around the turn of the 19th century remain to the present day. National Museums Scotland holds a significant collection of...Waine, Rosie
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Blog post
Collecting Scottish constitutional politics: 5 representative objects
Scottish politics is currently undergoing one of the most consequential and controversial periods in its modern history. Recently, important questions about the status of Scotland within a political union, the United Kingdom, have been posed. These politics are not only played out in formal debates and institutions, but in the...Vullinghs, Georgia
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Blog post
Flying without wings: The conservation of a DC-10 aircraft mode
How do you conserve a model aircraft? The DC-10 in our aviation collection was in need of repair to bring it back to its former glory. In this blog Suncana Marochini gives us a quick blow by blow of the conservation process. Prepare for lift-off, Suncana!Marochini, Suncana
Aviation , Aircraft, DC-10, and Conservation
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Journal article
Northern Modernist Jewellery – a museum collecting project
In 2015 National Museums Scotland was awarded an Art Fund New Collecting Award to collect, research and disseminate jewellery designed and created in Britain and the Nordic States between 1945-1978. The project highlighted a legacy of transnational influences and traditions within Northern Europe, particularly shared cultural heritage, the influence of...Rothwell, Sarah
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Conference paper (unpublished)
The Body Beautiful: Addressing Cultural Diversity in Museum Fashion Collections
Collecting as a practice and the collections that result from this practice are crucial for museums. Collecting and collections embody power on many different levels – providing insights and basic knowledge, illustrating specific practices of our work to the widest audiences, and forming a basis for contextualizing our world. How...Ripley, Georgina
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Not So Hidden Messages – an Exploration of Contemporary Artist Jewellers Using Text as Persuasive Statement
Rothwell, Sarah
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Book
Little black dress: a radical fashion
In 1926, Coco Chanel designed a simple, short black dress described in American Vogue as 'the frock that the entire world will wear'. This lavishly illustrated book with contributions from experts explores interpretations of the 'LBD' throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.Ripley, Georgina
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Lecture
Place, from a distance: using digital media to go local
Objects in a museum’s collections are often a natural focus for digital media activities – but what about the places the objects come from?International audiences have long been fascinated with Scotland’s historic landscapes and communities. Domestic audiences, partly due to pandemic lockdowns making knowledge of ‘the local’ more integral to...Weinczok , David
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Exhibition-related event
Spotlight On: Bernat Klein
Inspired by our exhibition, Bernat Klein: Design in Colour, curator Lisa Mason discusses Bernat Klein’s legacy and how his design philosophy can influence personal style, colour psychology and wellbeing today.Mason, Lisa
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Exhibition-related event
Bernat Klein
Bernat Klein had a visionary career spanning four decades, from the 1950s until his retirement in 1992. Based in the Scottish Borders, his radical use of colour blending and texture – inspired by the Scottish Borders landscape – transformed haute couture, home-made fashions and interior design. Lisa Mason will discuss...Mason, Lisa
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Blog post
The Jenners Archive: your ultimate guide to unrationed chic
The Second World War was a time of clothes rationing. We hold the Jenners Archive in the museum’s library which documents the clothes that were available. Library Assistant Linden Williamson delves into the archive to guide us through the fashion trends of the day through the eyes of a housewife... -
Blog post
Period products for a 21st century Scotland
Tampons, pads, and menstrual cups are everyday objects used by many though rarely considered noteworthy. But what can a group of period products say about the social and environmental concerns of Scotland today? Georgia Vullinghs, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary History, discusses some recent acquisitions relating to the campaign...Vullinghs, Georgia
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Blog post
Inspiring Women: Helen Monro Turner
Helen Monro Turner (1901 – 1977) was a hugely influential Scottish glass engraver, designer, educator, and illustrator, as well as a highly respected role model for women pursuing careers as glass artists, designers, and makers. Her prominence in 20th century British glass made important inroads in a field which, until...Rothwell, Sarah
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Other
Alexander Archer Drawings Index
Alexander Archer was an amateur artist, resident in Edinburgh in the 1820s and 1830s. The library holds a collection of around 160 detailed pencil drawings by Archer of Edinburgh and the surrounding area featuring details such as the typical shops of the time, names of business owners and whole streets...National Museums Scotland
Edinburgh and Leith, Architectural drawing, Index, Alexander Archer, 19th century, artist, and Archive
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Lecture
Design in Postnormal Times
Design in Postnormal Times is live streamed from the City Observatory on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill, today home to the visual arts organisation, Collective. Alice & Chris will talk for around 45 minutes, we will then invite questions and comments. Please type your questions and / or remarks in the box...Tremlow, Alison ; Breward, Christopher