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Facade of the Museum Nacional de Arte Antiga © Pitt Rivers Museum
On the 15th of February I travelled to Lisbon with two objects, a Congo cushion cover and an Aztec pendant. Both objects travelled in a crate in the cargo hold of a Tap Portugal plane. Myself and the PRM crate arrived in sunny Lisbon later that day. We were driven to the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Portugal’s national art gallery where the crate was stored overnight for the objects to be unpacked and installed in the exhibition ‘The Global City, Lisbon in the Renaissance’ the following day.
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The
exhibition recreates the mercantile heart of Renaissance Europe’s foremost
global city, Lisbon. A time when luxury and exotic goods, spices and
commodities were imported from Africa, Brazil, Asia and elsewhere and sold on
the streets of Lisbon. The cushion cover loaned to the exhibition is an
important part of the PRM’s collections. The cushion cover is from the Museum’s
earliest collections, that of the Tradescants from the 1600’s. The cushion
cover has been radio carbon dated AD 1360-1436. The cushion cover is made from
raffia fibre, admired for their beauty by European explorers, they were soon
prized as bedcovers and floor coverings and taken back to Europe as luxury
items. The PRM cushion cover is displayed alongside two other raffia textiles
from Kongo from the Museum of Roman Civilisation, Rome, Italy. The pendant is
made from jade and is from Mexico and was donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in
1905.
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| PRM crate being prepared for cargo at Heathrow © Pitt Rivers Museum |
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| The crate arriving in Lisbon © Pitt Rivers Museum |
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| Installation in the exhibition gallery © Pitt Rivers Museum |
Due
to the age and fragility of the cushion cover it was packed by our conservation
department for a safe journey to Lisbon. For the duration of the exhibition it
is very important that the environmental conditions of the display case are
kept stable and the textile is not exposed to too much light, humidity or
fluctuations in temperature. Before installing the display in Lisbon I checked
the condition of the two objects and monitored the environmental conditions of
the showcase. I then ensured that the cushion and pendant were secure before
leaving for Oxford. The exhibition closes on the 9th of April when I
will return to Lisbon de-install the loan and collect the cushion cover and
pendant.
Faye
Belsey
Assistant
Curator
