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unusual : collections #2 London’s a great place for collections, from internationally-recognised museums to tiny specialist places you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t know they were there. The Fan Museum Clockmakers’ Museum Home to the collection of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, and housing the world’s oldest collection of watches, clocks and sundials, this museum is a “brief history of time”. Or rather, timekeeping. Living in a 21st century 24-hour city, time seems to be increasingly important, whether it’s getting to work, speeding up transactions, eating unseasonal food, or thinking about our work-life balance. It’s fascinating to realise it hasn’t always been this way - the need for accurate, mechanised timekeeping didn’t come into general acceptance until the 16th century, due to the navigational needs of seafaring nations, and Japan didn’t accept Western time until 1873. One of the most interesting exhibits is a Japanese lantern clock that divides time into 2 parts – daylight and night – working with reality rather than imposing a structure onto it. Whatever your thoughts on this, there is much to enjoy and learn in this quiet museum. The craftsmanship of ancient clocks and mechanisms is magnificent. Horology still exists as an art form – the Company holds workshops for children - and for me, wearing my dad’s 1960s wristwatch every day, the simple action of winding it up, followed by the quiet ticking, is a daily pleasure. Guildhall Art Gallery The City of London started collecting paintings in the 17th century, and hasn’t stopped since, concentrating on London subjects since World War II. The result is a gallery that shows 250 works of art at a time, and contains famous treasures such as Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, Landseer’s The First Leap, a host of pre-Raphaelite works, and a lovely collection of Matthew Smith’s paintings (a reason to go in itself). The gallery also runs a temporary exhibition programme, often on a London theme. On my visit an excellent and thought-provoking exhibition called London Now – City of Heaven, City of Hell. All this in cosy atmospheric galleries on top of London’s only Roman Amphitheatre (really). What are you waiting for? British Library online collections I know what you’re thinking. This isn’t a cosy, unheard of treasure trove, it’s one of the most famous collections in the world, in a bloody great building on Euston Road. Well yes, but did you know lots of it is available to the public all the time, online? Via the Sound Archive you can listen to an 1890 recording of Florence Nightingale, world and traditional music, the sound of an African Fish Eagle, and chart changes in spoken English accents and dialogues. In Turning the Pages, you can flick through the Magna Carta, browse Jane Austen’s work, and peruse Baybars’ Magnificent Qur’an or Leonardo’s sketchbook. You can take part in Collect Britain, looking at artefacts, everyday life, wildlife and life in GB. This is all just the tip of a virtual iceberg - there’s far too much for one paragraph, so go online and explore. MC |
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