A new, permanent display of Renaissance silver and exotica has opened at the Ashmolean Museum. Inspired by Dresden’s ‘Green Vault’, the new gallery provides a lasting home for the exquisite collection, which was bequeathed to the museum in 2012 by the late Michael Wellby (1928-2012).
Michael Wellby was a member of a family prominent in the silver trade; at the age of 18 he took a part-time job in his father’s business where he acquired a lasting passion for the beauty and craftsmanship of early silver.
He collected throughout the course of his life, making many important discoveries and acquiring numerous rarities. Although some items were sold at his shop on Grafton Street, Mayfair, a few exceptional pieces were added to his personal collection.
By the time of his bequest, he had amassed nearly 500 objects of the greatest rarity, the majority of which originated from the Continent of Europe between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. Many of the pieces bear the arms of their original owners, and some incorporate ivory, agate, shell, lapis lazuli or rock crystal.
The Wellby Gallery was only made possible by a number of generous grants, including an award of £100,000 from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund in 2012. The Ashmolean was one of forty museums across the country to have received such an award, which supports the display of permanent collections in museums and galleries throughout the UK.
Alongside new showcases, wall-mounted gilt brackets and mirrors are used within the Wellby Gallery to show inpidual pieces to best effect, giving visitors a sense of the grandeur in which these objects would have existed at the time of their creation.
Visit the Wellby Gallery in person or discover the collection online now.