Projects – Friends of Leeds City Museums

05/20/201305/20/2013

Dressed for Battle

Leeds City Museums are showcasing military tailoring in their new exhibition Dressed for Battle. The Lotherton Hall display features an Alexander McQueen outfit which the Friends contributed to.
You can see the McQ woollen coat, belt and boots from Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, whilst learning about how the legacy of war has contributed to fashion.

Alexander McQueen died in 2010 with a reputation as one of the most significant, imaginative, and provocative designers of his generation. Internationally acclaimed, he won ‘British Designer of the Year’ four times between 1996 and 2003 and was also named ‘International Designer of the Year’ by the Council of Fashion Designers in 2003.

The military outfit was designed under Sarah Burton, Creative Director of the label after McQueen’s death. The label has seen considerable success under this leadership with the Alexander McQueen fashion house selected to make the wedding dress for Katherine Middleton when she married Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.
See Dressed for Battle at Lotherton Hall until January 2014
Images: Coat from the McQ label by Alexander McQueen, part of the Autumn / Winter Collection 2012.

03/17/201303/17/2013

Portrait of Richard Paley (circa 1802)

Richard Paley (1746-1808) was an early Leeds industrialist and entrepreneur specialising in cotton spinning, opening two steam powered cotton spinning mills in 1790. He is seen as one of the fathers of large scale industry in Leeds, although his progressiveness was also his downfall, with the cotton industry later receding in Leeds for wool production.

The portrait will be added to the City’s collection of portraits of early Leeds industrialists.

08/29/201208/31/2012

Colonel Gascoigne’s Medal Room

The Medal Room at Lotherton was Colonel Gascoigne’s study where he kept his collections of books, stamps and medals. The medals were mostly shown in shield-shaped frames on the walls and two of them survive.

With help from the Friends, six more frames have been carved to match and used to display a range of military medals from the Museums’ collection.

08/29/201208/31/2012

The Drawing Room at Lotherton

This is Lotherton’s biggest project in recent times. The silk damask on the walls of the Drawing room had faded and degraded after a hundred years and more. With help from the Friends, it has now been re-woven and re-hung with curtains and blinds made to the original design.

The drawing room re-opened in mid July 2012 and is well worth a visit. Part of the original faded paper has been left to highlight the conservation work that has taken place – it’s fascinating!

12/19/201108/25/2012

Bronty Golf Co. Ltd, Pudsey

We recently helped Leeds Museums to acquire a group of items made by Bronty Golf Co. Ltd, Pudsey (a major name in golfing circles). The items include three original factory moulds (acquired by the vendor when manufacturing ended in Leeds about 15 years ago).

These moulds are highly sought after by American golf collectors, but the vendor wanted the best examples to come to the Leeds museum collections. They are for the best-selling models: the Bronty “Chipmaster” and Bronty “Rustler” (plus a putter). Other items include 9 golf clubs, 1 display stand, 6 putting hoops, 7 golf balls and 1 brass putter head.

The company traded for over 30 years and produced thousands of golf clubs but went into decline due to cheap far east imports and it failed to develop with the big name golf companies. It is however famous for its Rustler putter range, chipmaster and pitchmaster chippers.

A selection of these items will be displayed at Abbey House Museum from 21st January 2011 as part of the “Performance” exhibition.