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ACE’S 12 GIFTS
FOR CHRISTMAS
22.12.2011 / Museums / 0 Comments
Acceptance-in-lieu brings yule treasures
Twelve unique works of art and antiquity, including paintings by Turner and Rubens, an Iron Age artefact and archives relating to life of Lord Louis Mountbatten, have been acquired for the nation through the acceptance-in-lieu of tax scheme now operated by Arts Council England. ACE took over responsibility fo AIL from the Museum Libraries and Galleries Council in October.
The pieces accepted in place of inheritance tax are:
Rubens's The Triumph of Venus, valued at £4.4 million, which is on show at the National Gallery, its first public display for many years. Rubens painted it as a design for a salt cellar for one of the great ivory carvers of the 17th century, Georg Patel, and Rubens kept the salt cellar for the rest of his life.
A comprehensive archive documenting the lives of Lord Louis and Lady Edwina Mountbatten from 1930 to the 1970s, covering Lord Louis's time as the last Viceroy of India, and there was also funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Southampton University, where the documents have been allocated, to secure them.
A rococo sofa, commissioned by Princess Diana's ancestor the 1st Earl Spencer for Spencer House, which will be on temporary view at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire from 18 February.
Papers from the 5th Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, providing a fascinating insight into British naval navigation in the 18th century. They will eventually be displayed at the Greenwich Observatory.
The Ashmolean Museum has received a collection of 30 oils, watercolours and etchings by Walter Sickert, which will be on public display for the first time ever.
A portrait of William Cobbett, the reformer and political activist, by John Raphael Smith will go to the Museum of Farnham in Surrey, Cobbett's home town.
Nine beautifully crafted pieces of glass mostly from the 18th century, on display at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, pending their permanent allocation. The nine pieces include five decorated by William Beilby (1740 - 1819), arguably the best glass enameller of his time, and a goblet commemorating the opening of the High Level Bridge over the Tyne in 1849.
JMW Turner's Rome from Monte Mario is one of the artist's outstanding watercolours. Last on public display at the Royal Academy's exhibition, Turner: The Great Watercolours in 2000, it was painted in 1820 and has been permanently allocated to the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh.
One of the finest late Iron Age artefacts ever discovered in Wales, the Capel Garmon Firedog, will remain at National Museum Wales where it has been on loan museum since the 1930s. The firedog, which may have belonged to a chieftain, has been dated to approximately 50BC to 50AD.
One of Barbara Hepworth's late sculptures, Meditation, carved three years before her death in 1975, has been acquired with the help of The Art Fund, will go on show for the first time at Aberdeen Art Gallery.
A wealth of materials from the archive of the Wyndham family of Somerset which dates from the 14th century and provides a fascinating insight into the history of Somerset has been placed at the Somerset Heritage Centre and at the Wiltshire and Swindon Historical Centre, pending the decision on permanent allocation.
Fittingly, the final of the twelve Christmas treasures for the nation is a Renaissance painting of the Nativity. Adoration of the Shepherds, by Garofalo, depicts the shepherds who were the first to be told of the birth of Christ. Garofalo was an extremely successful painter in 16th century Italy. Garofalo's beautiful painting has found a permanent home in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, where it is currently on display. \
Illustrated are: William Cobbett by John Raphael Smith; Rome from Monte Mario by Turner; The Triumph of Venus by Rubens.
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