Thursday 22 March 2007
The Art Fund fits another piece of the Kew Palace
jigsaw into place
Piecing together the story of characters from history is a
difficult task, but The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent
art charity, has helped Historic Royal Palaces to fill one gap
in the story of Kew Palace. The Art Fund has purchased a
unique cabinet of jigsaw maps that once belonged to King
George III’s children, which it has generously given to
Historic Royal Palaces and the V&A Museum of Childhood. The
cabinet and selected maps will first be displayed at Kew
Palace, King George’s countryside retreat, when it reopens to
the public on 24 March 2007.
Historic Royal Palaces lost out to a foreign buyer when the
cabinet and jigsaw maps came up at auction in 2000. Culture
minister David Lammy placed an export bar on the cabinet, and
Historic Royal Palaces joined forces with the V&A Museum of
Childhood to try and purchase the work. The Art Fund, keen to
see the cabinet enjoyed by the public in Britain, stepped in,
buying it outright for £120,000 and presenting it as a gift to
Historic Royal Palaces and the V&A Museum of Childhood. They
will now jointly share the display and ownership of the
cabinet.
David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, said:
“This extraordinary cabinet contains some of the earliest
jigsaw maps in existence, showing us the world as it would
have been seen by the young George IV. I am delighted that The
Art Fund has been able to give it as a gift to Historic Royal
Palaces and the V&A Museum of Childhood – it will surprise and
delight generations of visitors, of all ages.”
The simple mahogany cabinet, dating from the mid-1700s, was
made to hold a collection of dissected maps, the earliest
precursors of the jigsaw puzzle. The cabinet and the sixteen
maps belonged to the children of King George III and Queen
Charlotte who were educated at Kew Palace for some of their
childhood. It is likely that the future George IV and William
IV used these maps when young princes. The cabinet and its
contents were later passed to their governess Lady Charlotte
Finch.
A note pinned inside the cabinet records its royal provenance
and claims that Lady Charlotte Finch was "the inventor of
dissecting maps ... always used in teaching Geography to
George the fourth, his Brothers and sisters".
The British Library have acclaimed the maps as exceptionally
early examples of jigsaw maps, which were first produced for
sale by the engraver John Spilsbury in the 1760s. Some of
Spilsbury’s dissected maps are included in this collection, as
well as others hand-drawn by Lady Charlotte or the royal
children.
Sebastian Edwards, curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said:
"It is wonderful to see these little pieces of history
returning to Kew, where we imagine the royal children and
their beloved governess would have played and learned from
them. Picture the young future rulers using them to grasp the
scope of their ever-expanding empire. Historic Royal Palaces
and our partners at the Museum of Childhood owe many thanks to
all those who helped save them for the nation."
Diane Lees, Director, at the V&A Museum of Childhood, said:
The V&A Museum of Childhood is delighted to acquire Lady
Charlotte Finch's puzzle cabinet with the Historic Royal
Palaces, courtesy of The Art Fund. These dissected puzzles are
unique and pre-date any currently in the Museum's collection.
Together with the cabinet that has always housed them, they
are a significant and welcome acquisition.
The cabinet will appear on display in the Breakfast Room at
Kew Palace alongside other historic objects relating to royal
childhood and education at Kew including the Kew “Baby House”
(doll’s house) that once belonged to King George III’s
daughters. This acquisition is a second cause for celebration
at the palace this year, as it is also celebrating being
longlisted for the Gulbenkian Prize for Museums and Galleries
2007.
Notes to Editors:
For further information about Kew Palace or to attend the press call
please contact Sarah Watson on 020 3166 6166 or email
sarah.watson@hrp.org.uk . To download images of Kew Palace and some
of the objects on display please visit HRP’s online photographic
library at hrp.newsteam.co.uk.
The Art Fund
For further information about The Art Fund please contact Tanera
Bryden in The Art Fund Press Office on 020 7225 4822 or email
tbryden@artfund.org or visit the website www.artfund.org
The Art Fund is the UK’s leading independent art charity. It offers
grants to help UK museums and galleries enrich their collections and
campaigns widely on behalf of museums and their visitors. It has
80,000 members.
Since its foundation in 1903, The Art Fund has helped UK public
collections acquire over 850,000 works of art, ranging from Bronze
Age treasures to contemporary works of art.
In 2006 The Art Fund offered over £5 million to museums and
galleries.
Earlier this year The Art Fund gave a stunning silver brocade court
mantua to Historic Royal Palaces – it is now on display at
Kensington Palace.
Independent of government, The Art Fund is uniquely placed to
campaign on behalf of public collections across the UK. It was at
the forefront of the campaign for free admission in 2001 and the
campaign to save the Macclesfield Psalter in 2005 and led the public
appeal to Save JMW Turner’s Blue Rigi for Tate in 2007
Visit the charity’s website at www.artfund.org.
Historic Royal Palaces
As well as this acquisition Kew Palace is also celebrating
been long-listed for the highly prestigious Gulbenkian Prize
for Museums and Galleries 2007, alongside nine other museums
and galleries around the country. Historic Royal Palaces is
appealing to visitors and supporters to go online and pledge
their support for Kew Palace to win the award at
www.24hourmuseum.org.uk, where they can post their comments
and messages of support.
Historic Royal Palaces is the independent charity that looks after
the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, the Banqueting House,
Kensington Palace and Kew Palace. We help everyone explore the
story of how monarchs and people have shaped society, in some of the
greatest palaces ever built (registered charity number 1068852).
We receive no funding from the Government or the Crown, so we depend
on the support of our visitors, members, donors, volunteers and
sponsors. These palaces are owned by The Queen on behalf of the
nation, and we manage them for the Secretary of State for Culture,
Media and Sport.
We believe in four principles. Guardianship: giving these palaces a
future as long and valuable as their past. Discovery: encouraging
people to make links with their own lives and today’s world.
Showmanship: doing everything with panache. Independence: having our
own point of view and finding new ways to do our work.
V&A Museum of Childhood
The V&A Museum of Childhood reopened in December 2006 following a
year’s closure and the completion of an extensive £4.7million
transformation of its 130-year-old home.
Alongside a stunning new entrance and gallery space, the ambitious
redevelopments have restored the home of the UK’s most important
collection of childhood objects to its former Victorian glory, fully
updated the galleries and displays, expanded educational spaces and
made the Museum fully accessible to all visitors.
Since reopening visitor figures are up 78% with over 112,000 visits
by the end of February.
For further information on the V&A Museum of Childhood, please
contact Joanna Bolitho on 020 8983 5219 j.bolitho@vam.ac.uk
www.museumofchildhood.org.uk