Tomorrow, an exciting new exhibition opens at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Supported by Tain-based The Glenmorangie company, the exhibition will reveal new insights into the people and society of the early mediaeval times, a period when elaborate and sophisticated objects, sculptured stones and manuscripts were produced in Scotland.
Treasures from the national collections, along with contemporary creations by artists and crafts people, will let visitors lift the veil on what was a fascinating time in Scotland.
Due to the organic materials from which many early mediaeval objects were made, such as horn and leather, only fragments survive today.
To understand these objects and the skills required to make them, National Museums archaeologists worked with craftsmen and women and artists to recreate these original techniques.
Producing recreations of significant artefacts reveals what these objects might have looked like in their original state.
Mhairi Maxwell, Glenmorangie research officer, National Museums Scotland, said: “Each of the artefacts in Creative Spirit played an important role in Scotland’s early communities and our work with contemporary artists and crafts people has really brought these rare objects back to life.
“Piecing them together lets us re-interpret the evidence surrounding these objects, how they were made and how they could have been used, telling us more than ever before about early mediaeval Scotland.”
The exhibition presents the latest findings of the Glenmorangie Research Project.
Since 2008, this award-winning partnership between the whisky firm and the museum has been generating exciting new research into this period in history and furthering our understanding of Scotland’s early mediaeval people.
For this exhibition, digital technology has been used to reveal some of the lost intricacy and beauty of many objects.
For example, the missing elements of the delicate 8th-century Monymusk Reliquary have been digitally recreated, allowing visitors to see inside this bronze, copper and silver casket for the first time.
Following laser scanning and digital reconstruction of surviving pieces, the Traprain Law Dish is shown to be one of the largest silver dishes from the Roman Empire. The dish is part of a silver hoard buried at Traprain Law more than 1,500 years ago.
The recreation of a large iron and bronze hand-bell, inspired by Scotland’s largest example, the Birnie Bell, reveals how the arts of bronze casting and blacksmithing were brought together in this ancient form of bell, while an imposing Pictish drinking horn demonstrates how early makers may have worked with cattle horn to produce beautiful, glassy, translucent finishes.
The recreation of an early Christian leather satchel from Loch Glashan, Argyll, the type which would have been used by monks to carry and protect the Bible, has challenged previous interpretations of the surviving fragments.
Meanwhile, research into Norrie’s Law Hoard, the largest collection of Pictish silver ever to have been found in Scotland, has uncovered a Victorian mystery surrounding the origins of almost identical pairs of objects.
Hamish Torrie, head of communications with Glenmorangie, said: “As a company, we are very proud of our Scottish roots, which is why our brand emblem is inspired by the 8th-century Pictish Hilton of Cadboll Stone, originally discovered just along from the distillery at Tain.
“It is also why we support the important research of this period of Scottish history at National Museums Scotland. This exhibition shows what extraordinary objects of beauty and luxury existed at that time.”
The exhibition will be supported by a programme of events, including:
Thursday, October 31, 2pm (free): Curator, Martin Goldberg and Glenmorangie research officer Mhairi Maxwell introduce highlights of the exhibition.
Saturday, December 7, noon-4pm (free). Makers involved in this exhibition discuss their creative processes. There’s a mixture of drop-in and bookable sessions: see www.nms.ac.uk/adults for details.
The same day, from 1.30-4.30pm, artist-jewellery, Dorothy Hogg will lead a jewellery workshop (£25 or £22 members and concessions).
Saturday, January 18, 2pm. What can we learn from re-examining replicas, the responses of contemporary artists to the magnificent stone sculptures of early mediaeval Scotland, and from recreating these ancient monuments using innovative digital technology? Includes a glass of Glenmorangie Original, and costs £10.
What: Creative Spirit: Revealing Early Mediaeval Scotland.
Where: National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh.
When: Runs from tomorrow, October 25, until Sunday, February 23, 2014. Opening hours are 10am-5pm daily.
Cost: Free of charge.
Contact: 0300 123 6789 or visit www.nms.ac.uk