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Reflection on Celts
Exhibition
Reflections on Celts
1 Sep 2016 – 7 Sep 2016
Event times
Mon to Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12.30-4.30pm.
Cost of entry
Free.
Address
- Albert Square,
- Meadowside
- Dundee
- DD1 1DA
- United Kingdom
Reflections on Celts is a partnership tour between National Museums Scotland and the British Museum featuring two Iron Age mirrors, which tell very different stories, and help us to understand the relationships between communities in Britain 2,000 years ago.
About
A spotlight tour organised in partnership with National Museums Scotland and the British Museum 1 September - 5 December 2016.
Reflections on Celts is a partnership tour between National Museums Scotland and the British Museum featuring two Iron Age mirrors, which tell very different stories, and help us to understand the relationships between communities in Britain 2,000 years ago.
National Museums Scotland's mirror was discovered at Balmaclellan in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-west Scotland. It was part of a hoard of metalwork wrapped in cloth parcels which was placed in a bog, perhaps as an offering to the gods. Unlike the English mirror, both faces were smooth for reflecting. Decoration is confined to the handle, the shape of which is modelled on Roman vessel handles.
The British Museum's Holcombe mirror, from Devon, south-west England, was uncovered during the excavation of a Late Iron Age settlement which lay beneath a Roman villa. The back of the mirror is engraved with a stunning looped design which perfectly balances engraved motifs with empty space. This was a new style of Celtic art which developed in southern Britain as communities here were coming into closer contact with the Roman world.
The mirrors are supplemented by objects from The McManus' collection which explore the history of the Celts in Dundee and the surrounding area. The McManus display features three key time periods; the Iron Age, Post Roman and the Celtic revival, with a range of objects from Pictish metalwork to items excavated from Hillforts providing an insight into the lives of the people in those periods. Highlights include John Duncan's The Riders of the Sidhe and a replica of the Hunterston Brooch.
The exhibition also showcases a stunning 3D visualisation of the Dundee Law as it would have looked in the Iron Age. This film includes objects unearthed from the Law including Roman pottery, Celtic lamps and a whale bone.
Reflections on Celts at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum is the last stop on the partnership tour, and is your last chance to see the mirrors together. It opens to the public on Thursday 1 September and runs until Monday 5 December.
The Reflections on Celts tour is generously supported by the Dorset Foundation.
