In 1898, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild bequeathed to the British Museum
the contents from the New Smoking Room at Waddesdon Manor, a collection
of nearly 300 objects to be known as the Waddesdon Bequest. The Bequest
contains some of the most beautiful examples of medieval and Renaissance
craftsmanship, including exquisite pieces of jewelry, silver plate,
painted enamels of Limoges, glass and microcarvings in boxwood. It is
the only permanent collection to have a gallery to itself in the British
Museum, one that has been redesigned for the 21st century which opened
to great acclaim in 2015. To coincide with the new gallery supported by
the Rothschild Foundation, a conference was held that opened up this
remarkable collection to leading specialists who spoke on all areas of
the Bequest. Subjects included new attributions for sculptures, a
detailed discussion of the making and marketing of forgeries by Salomon
Weininger, Frédéric Spitzer and Alfred André as well as new research on
jewelry and its presentation both at Waddesdon Manor and in the new
gallery at the BM. The collecting tastes of French and English
Rothschilds were compared and contrasted, and a line of Arabic poetry
enameled on the Palmer Cup newly identified. This book presents these
findings and positions the Waddesdon Bequest within a wider intellectual
and historical context for the first time.
