NOTTINGHAM CITY MUSEUMS ACQUIRE RARE PLATE SET

INDEPENDENT CHARITY THE ART FUND ANNOUNCED THAT NOTTINGHAM CITY MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE HAS BOUGHT A RARE SET OF ORNATE 19th CENTURY PORCELAIN PLATES AT AUCTION IN NEW YORK, WHICH WILL BE DISPLAYED ACROSS THREE HERITAGE SITES; NEWSTEAD ABBEY, WOLLATON HALL AND NOTTINGHAM CASTLE. ACQUIRED WITH A GRANT OF £2,195 FROM THE ART FUND TOWARDS THE HAMMER PRICE OF £3,519, THE PLATES WILL NOW RETURN TO THEIR FORMER HOME AT THE ABBEY. THE TEN PLATES WERE PAINTED BETWEEN 1818 AND 1821, AND THEY HAVE A LINK TO THE CELEBRATED BRITISH POET LORD BYRON. THEY WERE DECORATED BY MARIA WILDMAN, SISTER OF COLONEL THOMAS WILDMAN, WHO LIVED AT NEWSTEAD ABBEY. FIVE OF THE PLATES DEPICT EXQUISITELY DETAILED SCENES FROM THE ESTATE AND FIVE ARE ILLUSTRATED WITH SCENES RELATING TOO IMPORTANT EVENTS IN COLONEL WILDMAN'S MILITARY CAREER. COLONEL THOMAS WILDMAN BOUGHT NEWSTEAD ABBEY FROM LORD BYRON, WHO WAS HIS FRIEND, IN 1818 AND THE ESTATE REMAINED IN HIS POSSESSION UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1859. MARIA, A TALENTED AMATEUR ARTIST, WAS A FREQUENT VISITOR TO NEWSTEAD AND DREW MUCH CREATIVE INSPIRATION FROM THE ESTATE. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE TEN PLATES WERE ORIGINALLY PART OF THE CONTENTS OF THE HOUSE AND ARE FROM A SET REFERRED TO IN THOMAS BAILEY'S HANDBOOK TO NEWSTEAD ABBEY, 1855. THE ART FUND HAS HELPED NEWSTEAD ABBEY TO BUY WORKS OF ART FOR ITS COLLECTION ON FIVE PREVIOUS OCCASIONS, THE MOST RECENT BEING A GRANT OF £8,750 IN 1999 TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF TWO PAINTINGS OF THE FOUR LORD BYRON'S FAVORITE RACEHORSES BY PETER TILLMANS, 1684-1734 FOR £35,000. THE PLATES WILL INITIALLY GO ON DISPLAY AT 3 OF NOTTINGHAM CITY MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES MAJOR HERITAGE SITES, AT NEWSTEAD ABBEY, WOLLATON HALL AND NOTTINGHAM CASTLE MUSEUM AND WILL BE ON DISPLAY FROM 2.APRIL, WHEN NEWSTEAD ABBEY RE-OPENS TO THE PUBLIC.