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Leeds's world changing treasures
The ambitious A History of the World project is attempting to show how civilisation developed through the artefacts that have helped to shape it. Camilla Nichol, head of collections at Leeds Museums, describes the 10 exhibits from the city that have been contributed to the project.
Astbury's Camera
University of Leeds
"This camera was used in the 1930s to take the first X-ray photographs of DNA in a collaboration between William Astbury and his student Florence Bell.
"It was Astbury who coined the phrase 'molecular biology' and he pioneered X-ray studies of this kind at the University of Leeds throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
"Knowledge of the DNA double helix, discovered in 1953, is the basis of modern molecular biology."
English Bronze Ewer
Leeds City Museum
"This 14th century English jug was taken from the Asante royal palace in modern day Ghana in 1896 by the Prince of Wales' Own Regiment.
"We don't know how it came to be there but we can guess that it was traded as a stunning piece of bronze work either as a diplomatic gift or as war booty.
"It could have travelled all the way from England to the Crusades and then along the coast of North Africa before crossing the Sahara to one of the ancient sub-saharan African kingdoms and then later to the Akan kingdom of the Asante."
Waddingtons Monopoly Board
Leeds City Museum
"John Waddington started off as a theatrical printer in Leeds in 1896 and the firm began printing playing cards in 1921.
"The game Monopoly was originally called The Landlord's Game and was invented in America by a Quaker woman who wanted to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies.
"The Parker Brothers won the rights to the game in America and in Britain they were acquired by Waddingtons.
"The slightly bizarre choice of London streets was due to a flying visit to the capital by one of the firm's employees.
"This special limited edition version of the game was made by John Waddington Limited to celebrate the centenary of the City of Leeds in 1993."
Dragon Robe
University of Leeds International Textiles Archive
"This highly embroidered silk dragon robe was brought to Leeds in the 1930s by Professor Aldred Farrer Barker, the then recently retired Professor of Textile Industries.
"It was made according to the imperial clothing regulations of the Qing dynasty, where civilian and military official were required to wear cloth rank badges to denote their social class."
Earl of Southampton's Armour
Royal Armouries
"Henry Wriothesley, pronounced 'Risly', was the third Earl of Southampton and an important military and political figure in Elizabethan England, distinguishing himself by his daring exploits during a campaign in Cadiz.
"He secretly married one of Elizabeth I's maids of honour in 1598 and was a patron of William Shakespeare, who dedicated several poems to him.
"He was sentenced to death after supporting the Earl of Essex's insurrection against the queen in 1601 but was pardoned in 1603 following Elizabeth's death.
"Southampton later played an important role in the early settlement of America, serving as treasurer of the Virginia Company in the 1620s."
Harrison Precision Pendulum Clock No.2
Leeds City Museum
"John Harrison was born in Foulby, near Wakefield, in 1693 and invented the marine chronometer, which for the first time accurately determined the longitude of a ship at sea.
"Before then not being able to fix location accurately had caused the loss of much shipping, cargoes and lives, and was a real impediment to economic growth.
"The clock was made in response to the Longitude Act of 1714, under which the Government offered a reward for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude. Harrison's H-4 was the acknowledged winner.
"His achievement echoes down the years. At a dinner at 10 Downing Street, not long after his walk on the moon, astronaut Neil Armstrong proposed a toast to John Harrison."
Burton's Demob Suit
Leeds City Museum
"Every soldier returning home from the Second World War was issued with a suit, shirt, tie and trilby hat made by Leeds firm Burton's.
"The company was founded at the start of the 20th century by Montague Burton, a Lithuanian Russian Jew, who initially set up shops selling bespoke and ready-to-wear suits in Sheffield and Derbyshire before establishing his firm in Leeds.
"During the Second World War Burton's made a quarter of all British military uniforms but when the war ended they switched production to the civilian suit, variations of which men still wear today."
Nesyamun, the Leeds Mummy
Leeds City Museum
"The inscriptions on Nesyamun's coffin and the objects left with him tell us much about his life.
"A leather ornament in his bandages reveals that he died in the reign of Ramesses XI, who ruled Egypt from 1113 to 1085 BC.
"Nesyamun was a priest at the temple of Amun in the Karnak complex at Thebes, now Luxor, and had reached a level of purification that allowed him to approach the statue of Amun in the temple's most sacred inner sanctum.
"Nesyamun is very important as the only mummy to have been dated to this period, shedding light on Egyptian culture of the time."
Artificial Hip
Thackray Museum
"John Charnley was a highly skilled orthopaedic surgeon and his total hip replacement procedure, developed in the 1960s, has benefited hundreds of thousands of people.
"This object is known as a 'femoral component prosthesis' and is made of stainless steel. It was fitted into the top of the thigh bone and the ball joint engaged in a hollow dome in the pelvis, allowing the leg to move.
"Charnley's association with Leeds medical supplies company Chas F Thackray began in 1947 and lasted until his death in 1982. It was one of the great partnerships between medicine and commerce."
Reclining Figure, Henry Moore
Leeds Art Gallery
"Henry Moore was born in Castleford and after serving in the First World War he became the first student of sculpture at the Leeds School of Art.
"This is one of Moore's earliest sculptural achievements and shows the essential ingredients of his work including his diverse range of influences and his creation of a special relationship between the human figure and landscape."
* For more information about the A History of the World project
visit www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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