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MISS CLARA KNIGHT'S CURIOUS COLLECTIONS:

SEASHORE SPECIMENS

Miss Clara Knight's Curious Collections is a journal-style story that I have written to accompany my series of assemblages and framed work of the same title. In the early Victorian era there was a great deal of interest in

the natural world, science and the world of faeries. Antiquarians and archaeologists were fired by a love of

the past; religiously documenting their findings and amassing intriguing collections of unusual artefacts for

their cabinets of curiosities....

Series One: 'Seashore Specimens', follows Clara and her father exploring the southern coast of England for

fascinating finds.........

MISS CLARA KNIGHT'S CURIOUS COLLECTIONS:
A NEW DISCOVERY

Series Two: ‘A New Discovery’, sees Clara and her father travelling north to search for a mysterious hoard….

MISS CLARA KNIGHT'S CURIOUS COLLECTIONS:

SEASHORE TREASURES

CURIOUS COLLECTIONS

As if they were once part of a long-forgotten antiquarian’s private collection, each of these boxes houses a curious little treasure of natural history….. I have renovated these boxes and created a curiosity inside each one by combining cast and shaped cotton linter paper pulp with natural items such as seashells or other ephemera from my own extensive collections….

EFFIE PARTINGTON'S COLLECTION OF CURIOS

'These pieces were amassed by Miss Euphemia Partington, (1847-1922), affectionately known as Effie. She was a formidable young woman with a deep sense of wanderlust who, on the death of a distant cousin, inherited a phenomenally large fortune. Gathering together an entourage of over thirty staff, a fleet of luxury carriages, a wardrobe to die for and 150 cases of champagne, she duly embarked upon the Grand Tour in 1868. Effie had an eye for the unusual and especially loved ancient objects with a connection to the sea. These examples are but a few of the pieces she purchased from dealers, guides and specialist antiquarian shops along her journey.

Effie so thoroughly enjoyed herself that she continued to travel for a great many more years before settling down to live a very colourful life in Seville. There, her sumptuous, palatial villa was designed by Antoni Gaudi, who specifically built a complete wing in which Effie could display her collections of curios.'

Effie Partington's Collection of Curios

MLLE CHLOE DUBOIS

'This is a relatively small group of specimens from the vast and fascinating collection of plants and flora gathered together by Miss Chloé Dubois, (1855-1933). Very little is known of Mlle Dubois’ background, but throughout her life she steadfastly searched high and low for new and exciting discoveries in the field of botany. A singularly intrepid botanist of great repute, she travelled the globe and discovered hundreds of new species.

Mlle Dubois had friends and acquaintances in many countries, which proved invaluable to her research. They would often send information as to the whereabouts of strange or unusual plants and sometimes small mysterious packages would arrive through the post for her containing flowers, roots, petals, leaves or seeds. It also meant that she could stay in a variety of locations for as long as she wished. She stayed as a guest of the Dalai Lama for over a year before crossing the Himalaya’s to India to see a friend who had heard rumours of a new type of Jasmine.'