A MOTHER and daughter have gathered up their Ruskin treasures and taken them to the Coniston museum dedicated to the Victorian poet and philospher, reports Karen Barden.
Delighted curator Vicky Slowe said the "collectors' pieces" were greatly appreciated gifts and hoped it would encourage other villagers to view the museum as "a treasury for Coniston".
Octogenarian Jane Jaynes bought a small octagonal table at a house clearance sale when she moved into her Coniston home in 1954, and discovered it had been made at the Coniston School of Woodcarving, supported by Ruskin, and run on his principles.
Her small Ruskin collection gathered pace around 30 years ago when her lodger, Tommy Gregg, a well-known monumental mason, went to London and bought her a Ruskin ceramic urn at a Sotheby's sale.
Daughter Heather Wilkinson was later to take over Holmthwaite guesthouse from her parents and inherited the Ruskin artefacts, adding her own acquisitions, which included ceramic vases and a brooch.
When Mrs Wilkinson, who is on the Ruskin Museum committee, heard a benefactor had donated Ruskin items, she suggested a family clearout.
"While space was being made for the gifts at the museum, I thought we should hand over our things at the same time and my mother agreed," she explained. "I don't think anything is particularly valuable, but they are all collectors' items." Mrs Wilkinson said she had collected little vases from around the area, along with a silver Ruskin brooch, decorated with turquoise ceramic.
Miss Slowe explained that chemists Howson and Taylor had set up an art pottery enterprise in Smethwick, near Birmingham, and named it after Ruskin, the "father of the Arts and Crafts movement".
"They followed Ruskin's ideals that everything should be beautiful and useful."
The vases given by mother and daughter are thought to date back to the 1930s and the table could have been made from a basic wooden kit, supplied by famed Kendal furniture-maker Arthur Simpson.
"Obviously, if anyone can tell us anything else about any of the items, we would be delighted to hear," said Miss Slowe, adding the museum was more than happy to accept any Ruskin memorabilia.
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