The Big Give – Miss Tanner’s Persian Treasures
The Holburne Museum would like to thank all our supporters for their donations to the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2017. We would like to give special thanks to our Trustees, Patrons, Friends, Visitors and Volunteers for their enthusiasm and generosity in supporting this exciting project.
We would also like to thank The Reed Foundation (Arts & Culture) for being our Champion in the Big Give Campaign and for their generous pledge of matched funds.
“I am so delighted that we have not just reached our target but gone way beyond it, meaning that we can bring even more of Ellen Tanner’s gift of Islamic art back to life. A huge thank you to everybody who gave so generously to the campaign!” – Dr Chris Stephens, Director
We look forward to introducing the public to Miss Tanner and her collection of Persian and Islamic Art in 2018.
Miss Ellen Tanner was a true Victorian pioneer. She left Bath in 1895 to explore Baghdad and beyond, and on her travels collected 85 exotic treasures – a range of textiles, metalwork and decorative art objects that were originally sourced in Persia and the Middle East in the late 19th century.
The money raised in this campaign to restore and display Miss Ellen Tanner’s fascinating collection for the first time will allow the Museum to:
- Restore the artworks /objects, several of which are in urgent need of restoration
- Present a new free to enter exhibition of Islamic and Middle Eastern Art
- Tell the story of Miss Tanner who was one of a number of extraordinary women who travelled to then-remote parts of the world during the late Victorian era
- Develop a new learning programme inspired by the exhibition
- Undertake further research on the origin, function, and cultural relevance of the objects
- Explore future collaborative projects with with other organisations that have benefitted from the Miss Tanner collection – the V&A, Bristol Museum and the Bath Royal Scientific & Literary Institute.
Any funds raised over our £50,000 target will be used to restore more of Miss Tanner’s collection and to fund the wider costs of the project.
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