Alan Bentley has kindly forwarded us
the media release for the new exhibition at the Parsonage. If you live nearby or have the chance of visiting it - don't hesitate!
‘FACE TO FACE WITH CHARLOTTE BRONTË’
A new exhibition which invites visitors to come ‘face to face’ with Charlotte Brontë, one of the famous Brontë sisters, is now on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth.
The exhibition, which runs from 1st February 2006 to 31st December 2006, lets visitors enter ‘Charlotte’s Bedroom’ where she slept and ultimately died in 1855. Her white kid leather gloves with brass studs and pretty dress with tiny waist are testament to her slight physical appearance.
Fans of today’s hair straightners and curling tongs will sympathise with the thin ‘iron curling tongs’ used by the Brontë household to create 19th century curls and waves – just one of the many objects which make up the collection at the Museum.
The exhibition also includes a recently restored chalk drawing of Charlotte Brontë which was purchased at Sotherby’s in 2004 and carefully restored to its former glory by experts.
Curator, Polly Salter said “the exhibition hopes to give visitors a glimpse of the personality and physical stature of this amazing woman. We can build a picture of how Charlotte may have looked through her clothing, jewellery and possessions which goes some way to understanding one of the most famous literary authors in the World”.
As well as portraits and possessions, the exhibition hopes to portray how others saw Charlotte and indeed how she saw herself. Powerful accounts of Charlotte by people who knew her at the time suggest time and again how Charlotte was ‘small of hand and foot’ with a square jaw and broad forehead.
George Smith (Charlotte’s publisher) gave his first impressions of Charlotte from their first meeting in 1848 “I must confess that my first impression of Charlotte Brontë’s personal appearance was that it was interesting rather than attractive. She was very small, and had a quaint old-fashioned look... Her head seemed too large for her body. She had fine eyes, but her face was marred by the shape of the mouth and by the complexion”.
Charlotte was fond of rings on her small fingers and included in the collection is a gold and pearl ring given to her by her husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls, who was married to Charlotte for only 9 months before her death whilst pregnant on 31 March 1855.Amazing exhibition! As usual - we would be glad to hear of anyone visiting it and giving us their account and opinion :)
For more information on the Brontë Parsonage Museum events in 2006,
click here and stay tuned to the
Brontë Society website or this blog, of course!
Categories: Brontë_Parsonage_Museum, Brontë_Society, Art-Exhibitions, Charlotte_Brontë
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