Past Matters

 This episode is for those people who love animals and art because in it, I interview Jenny Hand, curator at Munnings Art Museum. Alfred Munnings was a famous 20th century impressionist painter, particular known for his paintings of horses.  The objects Jenny picked though, are actually remarkably animal free - they are the sketchbooks from his years living in Cornwall. Listen in to lear...

Nestled among the reconstructed low-status farm buildings in Weald & Downland Living Museum is an almost fairytale-like structure. It wasn't the home of fairytale heroine though - it's actually an ornamental dairy from Regency England. Although, there are marks within it to ward off witches and evil spirits... To learn more about this building which visitors have walked past but will only be a...

It would be very easy to walk by the small, understated self-portrait of Emma Brownlow at the Foundling Museum in London, but it would be a travesty to not pay more attention to someone whose works provide such an interesting insight into life at the UK's first ever children's charity - the Foundling Hospital. The daughter of a former foundling who then became the head of the charity meant Emma gr...

Thought furniture was boring? Nonsense! Come and listen to episode 2 of Past Matters and learn about secret compartments and boudoir calendars in this interview with Bob Entwistle, Conservation Officer at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich.  The object up for discussion is a Japanned Chinoiserie cabinet that dates from the early 1700s. You can view a picture of it on Ployradford.com. 

Can weapons be art? How can you do armour - something worn to be admired from a 360 degree angle - justice in a museum? And did you know there were armour-making dynasties in renaissance Europe?  Download this first ever episode of Past Matters to hear Dr Tobias Capwell, Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection, London, explore these topics and more with journalist Ploy Radford. T...

Journalist Ploy Radford introduces herself and what Past Matters is all about.