Press Releases
Joint display of Staffordshire Hoard
12 Apr 10 - 18 Apr 10
N E W S R E L E A S E
Ref no. 4618cghoard 8 March 2010
Joint display signals return of Anglo-Saxon hoard
Helmet fragments previously unseen in Birmingham will go on display when the world’s largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure returns to the city from
13 March 2010.
A selection of 59 items will be on display including helmet fragments with animal decorations and warriors. Other artefacts to be displayed include fragments of decoration of eagles and ducks, a crumpled gold cross and a red garnet stud.
The same number of items will be displayed at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent, including a delicate filigree gold horse’s head, a gold strip with a biblical inscription and a crumpled gold plaque with ornate fish and bird heads.
The two displays will run from 13 March to 18 April. During this time, 10 of the items will be shown at fundraising events in London. These will then return to be on display in Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham.
The Staffordshire Hoard attracted over 40,000 visitors to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery throughout its 19 day display in October last year. It attracted 52,500 visitors to The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent during a 23-day exhibition which ran until 7 March.
The display in Stoke-on-Trent raised over £152,000 towards the fundraising total to acquire the hoard. And The Art Fund, which is leading the fundraising campaign to acquire the treasure on behalf of Birmingham City Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council, has today revealed £1.5 million has been raised in public pledges. Other major funding bodies have also been approached, but the target of £3.3m needs to be reached by 17 April deadline.
Cllr Martin Mullaney, Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Leisure Sport and Culture said:
“I am delighted that items from the Anglo-Saxon Hoard will be back in Birmingham. Our Museum and Art Gallery has some of the finest facilities and expertise in the country to care for this astonishing treasure. I have no doubt it will once again attract visitors from far and wide to our city.
“We know from the overwhelming public response to the first display that people feel very passionately that we must keep it in the West Midlands. Our fundraising efforts will continue to secure it for the benefit of the region and local people for generations to come.”
Cllr Hazel Lyth, Stoke-on-Trent City Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Culture, said:
“The support from the public for this unique treasure has been incredible and we are thrilled by the response the hoard has had during its display in Stoke-on-Trent. It has been the most popular exhibition ever staged at our museum and to have raised so much money and attracted so many visitors is a real credit to the region.
“We are thrilled that this new exhibition will enable the hoard to continue to be on public display at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery right up until the fundraising deadline. The display will be in the museum’s archaeological gallery, in context with other Anglo-Saxon artefacts, and we will be staging lots of events and activities throughout the exhibition. We want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy these incredible artefacts.”
The Anglo-Saxon treasure is believed to date from the later 6th to early 8th century AD, and was cared for by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until it was declared treasure on 24 September 2009. The hoard was then transferred to the British Museum in London for valuation which was confirmed on 26 November as £3.3million. The Hoard was displayed at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, in Stoke-on-Trent from 13 February to 7 March 2010.
A fundraising appeal was launched on 13 January by The Art Fund and historian David Starkey to keep the Staffordshire Hoard in the West Midlands Region. Birmingham City Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council are working jointly to acquire the Staffordshire Hoard. Details are available on the Museum’s website at: www.bmag.org.uk/support-us,
For further information on Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, please visit www.bmag.org.uk. For details on the Portable Antiquities Scheme please visit www.finds.org.uk.
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Media contact: Carmel Girling or Jason Lewis
Tel: 0121 303 4266
Carmel.girling@birmingham.gov.uk
Jason.lewis@birmingham.gov.uk
