THE STORY of a building that started life as a nonconformist school but went on to become Leicester’s flagship museum is told in a new exhibition that opens tomorrow (Saturday 14 February).
‘You Are Here’ tracks the development of Leicester Museum & Art Gallery from its opening in 1849 – when it was one of the country’s very first council-run museums – to the present day.
The new exhibition follows a chronological timeline, exploring how the city, its people and its museum have changed over the past 176 years, with the help of photographs, maps and items from the museum’s collection.
Fascinating objects from the museum’s very first displays will be part of the exhibition, together with new acquisitions and items from the collection that have never been shown before.
Highlights include an impressive prehistoric elk skull and antlers, a line drawing by Edvard Munch that will be on display for the first time, a 19th century replica of the Portland Vase, and a beautiful Victorian dolls’ house, faithfully modelled on a house that once stood on Knighton Park Road.
Objects and memorabilia from Leicester businesses, including Fox’s Glacier Mints – which had factories on York Road and Oxford Street – and Frederick Parker Ltd, will also be on display. Visitors will be able to see a Peppy the Polar Bear toy, produced as a promotional item for the Leicester-made peppermint sweets, and a model of Parker’s quarry plant and stone grader, carefully restored to working order by the Leicester Museums Technology Association beam team.
Images and photographs showing the museum’s evolution over the years will be on display too, including a drawing of the original neoclassical school building – designed by Joseph Hansom in 1836 – and a photograph from 1912, showing the construction of the museum’s west wing (pictured).
You Are Here opens at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery tomorrow (Saturday 14 February) and continues until 31 December. Admission is free of charge.
The exhibition has been co-produced with the generous support of Leicester’s museums & galleries volunteers, using the photographic archive, the social history library, the museum’s annual reports and maps and plans of the city.
Further information about the history of Leicester Museum & Art Gallery is available at storyofleicester.info
Picture caption: The west wing of Leicester Museum & Art Gallery under construction (1912)
Photo credit: The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland