In 1891 Marianne Brocklehurst, the daughter of the wealthy silk manufacturer John Brocklehurst who was also Macclesfield’s first MP, made her last journey to Egypt where she watched the archaeological discovery and removal of a large number of mummies in Thebes. This took place only a few years before Lord Astor completed his London office and residence at Two Temple Place on the Embankment. Her watercolours recording her trip introduce the exhibition “Beyond Beauty” in the late nineteenth century interiors of Lord Astor’s house, the revival style of which would have been familiar to many of the collectors of Egyptian archaeological artifacts which are now held in museums and galleries across the country.
Marianne Brocklehurst helped establish a museum in West Park, Macclesfield which is one of the seven institutions contributing to Beyond Beauty, along with Bagshaw Museum (Kirklees Council), Bexhill Museum, Bolton Museum, Ipswich Museum, Royal Pavilion & Museums (Brighton & Hove) and Touchstones Rochdale, reflecting Two Temple Place’s aim to hold curated exhibitions that showcase public – and often little-known – collections from around the UK while allowing visitors to enjoy the magnificent interiors. Some of the objects which Marianne herself collected are included, such as limestone jars for holding organs of the body. .
What is astonishing about this exhibition is how much has been preserved in these collections, including delicate fabrics, to provide information on the personal lives of the Egyptians, the latest fashions and hairstyles, the scents they used, the jewellery they wore and the make-up they applied. They had the same aspirations as women today, following the latest fashion and being recorded in paintings and sculpture. One reason why so much is known is their careful preparations for the afterlife, with elaborate coffins and masks, often being buried with all that they would need to make themselves beautiful when they awoke in that other place.
The images take us up to the Roman period when artistic styles were in tradition. The Roman Titus Flavius Demetrius had a mask for his mummy which was Egyptian in style with traditional Egyptian images while gradually there was a transition to the more realistic Hellenstic style, ending with lifelike portraits of a young man and woman painted on simple wooden panels which were laid over the face of their wrapped mummies in the late first/early second century AD.
This exhibition has interest on a number of different levels – Ancient Egypt, archaeology, portraiture and fashion, while it also provides an opportunity to see this fascinating building. Not only do the lives of the Egyptians come alive with this exhibition, but also that of Marianne Brocklehurst and all those who donated their collections to museums up and down the country. You can feel their spirit here.
