's chair The Museum is recognised as having the largest mixed collections in the county and one of the most important in the
south-east of England, outside London. Whilst its origins are typical of a regional museum created through
Victorian munificence, the work of collectors, staff and benefactors over almost 150 years has created a comprehensive collection of worldwide significance. Numismatist
Elizabeth Pirie worked on the collections from 1957 to 1960. The collections consist of over 600,000 artefacts and specimens. Three collections are of national importance: •
Anglo-Saxon – the best collection of artefacts from the richest
Anglo-Saxon region of
Britain. •
Japanese – one of the largest and most important collections outside London. • The Brenchley Collection – a large and diverse collection of worldwide
ethnography,
natural history and
fine and
decorative art collected by a mid-
Victorian explorer:
Julius Brenchley. Foreign
archaeology includes pieces such as the
Gandhara heads and over 400
Egyptian artefacts. The Egyptian collection is home to the mummified remains of
Ta-Kush a woman who was born in what is now Sudan before being buried in Egypt in the second half of the 7th century BC. A new acquisition in 2009 was the
kernos from
Melos in Greece; it is early
Cycladic III period and 4000 years old. There are only eight of these in the world, and this one was possibly used to hold various offerings, such as honey and oats. The
local history collections are varied and relate to all areas of local life. There are collections of
arms and
armour,
clocks and watches and a collection of over 18,000
coins and
medals. The collection of
photographs and
maps is of local importance and is complemented by over 10,000 items of printed
ephemera relating to the history of
Kent. The museum also owns the second volume of the
Lambeth Bible, a giant
Romanesque illuminated bible from the 12th century (the first volume is in the
Lambeth Palace library). There are internationally important collections of artefacts of
Pacific,
Oceanic and
African ethnography as well as diverse material from Asia and
North and South America.
Napoleon's chair has been held in the museum since 1866. It was one of a pair in the house of
Reverend Richard Boys on
St Helena, and after Napoleon was exiled there in 1815 he habitually sat in this chair, conversed with Boys and damaged the chair with his penknife while talking.
The arts The
Fine and
Applied Art collections comprise approximately 25,000 items. They include 17th to 19th century
furniture,
musical instruments, toys and games,
ceramics,
glass,
costumes and
needlework,
paintings,
prints and
drawings and
sculpture. One exhibit beloved of the local people is the
Lady Godiva statue by
John Thomas (1813–1862). Image:Maidstone 012.jpg|
Lady Godiva by
John Thomas Image:Maidstone 019.jpg|
Lady Godiva by
John Thomas Image:Maidstone 023.jpg|
Lady Godiva by
John Thomas Image:Maidstone 018.jpg|
Lady Godiva by
John Thomas The
ceramics holdings form the most significant collection in the region with around 700 English pieces as well as around 250
European pieces. The collection of
Chinese ceramics, mostly of 17th to 19th century date, is comprehensive. Approximately 8,000 specimens of
costume date from the 17th to 21st century. Complementing
needlework collections comprise around 700 specimens, including English
embroidery and
samplers,
European embroideries and
Eastern textiles. The
Japanese collections of
fine and
decorative art material are important and amongst the most studied in the country. They include
ceramics,
sword fittings,
netsuke,
lacquer and
books as well a series of over 750
Edo-period (1600–1868)
woodblock prints.
Natural history A collection of around 450,000
specimens in the
natural history section includes
specimens of national and international significance. The
bird collections include 1,800
mounted British
specimens, 400 foreign birds and over 1,100 cabinet skins. There are also 300
birds' nests and a
collection of
bird's eggs covering most
species on the
British list. The
Herbarium contains approximately 30,000
specimens representative of the
flora of the British Isles. There is also a British
collection of some 6,000
specimens of critical
genera including
Rubus,
Taraxacum and
Hieracium. The
Herbarium collection is the basis of
Philp's Atlas of the Kent Flora. There is an
entomology collection of around 250,000
specimens forming a comprehensive
collection of British
insects; and an important
collection of several thousand
shells, mainly of
tropical marine origin, but including
temperate marine and
freshwater, and
tropical terrestrial species. == Regimental Museum ==