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Date: Fri 27-Feb-1998

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Date: Fri 27-Feb-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Gilbert

Full Text:

Silver From Gilbert Collection

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- Silver from the Gilbert collection will be exhibited at

The Burrell Collection, from April 10 to May 3 in an exhibition entitled

"Heritage Regained: Silver from the Gilbert Collection."

The silver, part of an important collection of works given to Britain, was

formed in California over the past 30 years by English-born real estate

developer Arthur Gilbert.

The gift, at the time worth an estimated œ75 million, was announced in 1996

and, as a result of a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, it is

hoped that it will be permanently on public display at Somerset House in

London by the end of the century.

Forty pieces of silver and silver-gilt were selected from the collection for

this preview exhibition. To emphasize a theme of national heritage regained,

the pieces were either made for distinguished British patrons or are

Continental in origin but were in Britain from an early date. The exhibition

was unveiled in January at Christie's in London and it is appropriate that the

first of the six museums around Britain to show these masterpieces will be The

Burrell Collection, another example of a private collector gifting his

treasures to the British public.

Arthur Gilbert was born in London in 1913 but moved to California in 1949. His

collection spans a wide range of European works of art including furniture,

porcelain and clocks but is pre-eminent in the world in the fields of silver,

gold snuff boxes and mosaics.

Pieces date from the Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Century, and are strong in

works by the great English masters of the Georgian period. The earliest piece

to be shown is a silver-gilt and rock crystal cup and cover made in 1568,

probably by Affabel Partridge, one of Queen Elizabeth's goldsmiths. While its

earliest owners are unknown, it was given by the Duke of Wellington to Lady

Clementina Villiers as a christening gift in 1824 and descended through her

family to the Earl of Jersey.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue entitled Heritage

Regained: Silver from the Gilbert Collection, edited by Timothy Schroder and

published by Merrell Holberton for the Heather Trust for the Arts.

The gallery is at 2060 Pollokshaws Road. For information, 0141/331-1854.

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