When Connie said there was an English Heritage site in Birmingham she wanted to visit, my mind pictured the steel mills and belching smokestacks of Pittsburgh. It took only one look at our penthouse AirBnB to dispel that notion; a full kitchen, spacious bathroom, a comfy bed and a wonderful view from the balcony. Covered parking meant we could avoid the nightmare of driving in Birmingham. And if that wasn’t enough, a walk along the Gas Basin Canal in the sunshine might make you consider becoming a full-time Brummie. . . if only there were more sunny days.
From the outside the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is Georgian. Inside it’s Art Nouveau meets the Industrial Age. And Birmingham’s museum has one of the most eclectic collections we’ve ever seen—from stylish “toys” like vesta cases for lucifer matches to the 7th Century Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and sliver; from an exhibit of pre-Raphaelite paintings to a retrospective of Ozzie Osborne plus the very unexpected “Elephant Room” with its collection of things of dubious provenance.
I don’t have to tell you why we skipped the Ozzie Osborne exhibit, do I? We did spend some time with the “pre-Raphaelites,” a group of English painters, poets, and art critics from the mid-1800s who sought a return to the fine details and intense colors of Raphael’s fifteenth century Italian art. I didn’t recognize many of the artists but there were a few paintings that particularly appealed to us.
The Staffordshire Hoard was a revelation, however. Discovered in a farmer’s field in 2009 by an amateur with a metal detector, the treasure is the largest trove of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found in Britain. The collection consist of 4000 pieces from an estimated 700 objects, only two of which were found intact. The hoard was buried between 650-675 AD at a time of spiritual and cultural change, probably to protect and conceal the most valuable things during those uncertain times.
While many of the pieces are from ancient swords, archeologists determined that nearly one-third of the fragments in the Museum’s collection came from a single helmet, similar in construction and status to the one found at Sutton Hoo. I can’t imagine the dedication it took, even with cutting-edge technology, to create a picture of the helmet from more than 1000 pieces, let alone the skill required to recreate the model on display.
The Elgin Marbles at the British Museum aren’t unique; many museums have pieces in their collections that weren’t collected totally according to Hoyle, pieces they wouldn’t—or couldn’t—collect today. While many museums in the US have returned Native American objects to their rightful owners, never have we seen an exhibit like “The Elephant in the Room,” one in which the museum displays objects from its own collection that have dubious provenance. Some were collected without permits or permission; others were legally purchased with funds obtained through nefarious means. Well done, Ms. Curator.
