Oxford, United Kingdom 2015
The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford is one of the oldest public museums in the world, founded in 1683. Its collections span centuries and continents, and its Gallery 39 is home to one of the most significant collections of historical stringed instruments in the United Kingdom.
Display Exhibition Designer
Ashmolean Museum Design Department (Harry Phythian-Adams)
The gallery houses instruments donated to the Ashmolean in the 1930s and 1940s by the distinguished London firm of violin makers W.E. Hill and Sons. Among them are rare and exceptional pieces by Stradivari and Amati, studied by instrument makers worldwide. Also on display is the Messiah, a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 and widely regarded as the best-preserved Stradivarius in existence. Rarely played throughout its history, it shows almost no signs of wear. It was donated to the Ashmolean by W. E. Hill and Sons and has been in the museum's collection since 1940.
The instruments are grouped by type, with cases dedicated to violins, violas, cellos, and guitars. The guitars are particularly notable for their mother-of-pearl inlay and intricate decorative work. A dedicated wall case illustrates the processes and components involved in making a violin, tracing the craft from raw material to finished instrument.
Goppion engineered and installed a suite of Q-class display cases for the gallery including 14 vertical island cases and one large wall case. The design was well suited to the demands of the collection, maximizing optical transparency and allowing the formal qualities of each instrument to be read without visual interruption. The cases provide the conservation performance the collection requires, including climate stability and security, while maintaining the lightness of presence appropriate to a gallery where the instruments are the dominant visual element.
Gallery
