York Museums Trust Blog

We were lucky enough to be given a tour yesterday by Roger Tomlin, an expert from Oxford University. His specialist subject for the day was Roman inscriptions in the Yorkshire Museum, literally shining a new light on the many words in the Roman Gallery.

Personally, the greatest revelation was this stone, which I’d never paid any attention to before. It turns out to be the best piece of Roman inscription in the country and to be an important part of York’s story, marking a major gate of the Roman fortress.

You can now see it on the History of York website here.

The paper dress had its origins in marketing and consumerism. The first ones were used as a cheap promotional gimmick by the Scott Paper Company in 1966. The response from the public was overwhelming; 500,000 paper dresses were exchanged for coupons saved from Scott products.

The hem on the dress was left deliberately left unfinished; since the paper doesn’t fray, the dress could be cut to the required length. A handy tip was to use the leftover fabric as a matching hair bow!

The fad for paper dresses did not last as paper garments had a short life. Once the novelty value had worn off paper garments were relegated back to their original purpose as protective clothing for use in hospitals and factories.

You can see film footage in The Sixties gallery at the Castle Museum that shows just how disposable these dresses could be.

Info. by – Jackie & Josie

YORCM : BA 1076

This morning we launched a fantastic new event-cum-exhibition on the streets of York.

There’s been an embargo on news about it, so nothing on the blog either, but for the last few months we have been beavering away, laying plans, choosing sites, getting permissions and generally running around trying to make this happen.

We’ve been working with one big organisation – the National Gallery – and one huge one – Hewlet-Packard – to bring 49 reproduction paintings to the streets. It has been an interesting and exciting process. The support within the city of York has been wonderful.

In the spirit of the blog here are a few behind the scenes shots:

The team fitting the paintings deserve a plug – they also printed them – : EPS

The official site is here: www.thegrandtourinyork.org.uk

Illustrations from the Tillotson Hyde Collection

This watercolour by Marjorie Miller is one of my favourites from the Tillotson Hyde Collection. Miller was an illustrator of children’s stories and periodicals around 1924-1935. The elongated figure and composition demonstrate a Japanese influence.

James Tillotson Hyde (1894-1973) amassed a collection of some 1,500 drawings, most of which were original illustrations for newspapers, childrens’ publications and satirical publications such as Punch. In 1962, he gave his collection to York Art Gallery, where it now resides.

YORAG : R4414 Info. by – Jenny