Edmund Waterton, son of the famous 19th Century
naturalist Charles Waterton, was a bit of a hoarder.
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| Edmund Waterton |
He collected all kinds of
relics, and managed to blow the family fortune in the process. The Victoria and
Albert Museum acquired his collection in 1871. It included a staggering 760
rings, forming the backbone of the museum’s metalwork collection, from ancient
Roman key rings (that’s rings that are also keys, rather than the thing you
grabbed on the way out the front door this morning) through to 18th
century poesy rings.
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| Edmund Waterton's ring cabinet |
The V & A are kindly loaning 40 of these rings to
Wakefield Museum for our upcoming exhibition ‘Precious’. As well as the rings,
we will be showing, from the Wakefield collection, the cabinet where Edmund
kept the rings and, with the help of interactives, exploring the many different
meanings these rings can take on, like love, faith and magic. The rings will
look great too!
‘Precious’ opens in December. Watch this space for more details...
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