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Exhibitions & Events
Keep up to date with our regularly changing exhibits and events at the Museum of Whitby Jet.
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Current Exhibitions and Events
Famous Diamonds
24th April - 31st May
Celebrate the coronation of our new King, by immersing yourself in some of the world’s largest and best-known diamonds, including those set into the British Crown Jewels.
On display at the Museum of Whitby Jet is our new ’Famous Diamonds’ exhibition, which is a visual display of over a hundred exact replica’s cut from cubic zirconia, displayed with fascinating information documenting each stone’s history. Also on display is a selection of replica crowns, tiaras and headdresses, worn by royalty and at various coronations throughout history.
Some of the highlights of the exhibition include the ‘Hope’ diamond - famous for its alleged curse! And the ‘Taylor-Burton’ - the diamond Richard Burton would stop at nothing to buy for Elizabeth Taylor.
The collection has been slowly curated by a London based gemmologist since the 1968, and now resides at the Museum of Whitby Jet. This will be its first time on show in almost twenty years.
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End date of the exhibition may be extended, subject to demand.
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The Face Behind the Cameo: Sitter and Cutter
Jan 2020 – TBD
In our modern world of mass production, the Whitby jet industry is one of the few trades which has retained its reputation for local, handmade, skilled craftsmanship. This has always been the case, and as you delve further back in time to a period when cameos and floral carvings were popular, the incredible skill of the jet carver becomes even more prevalent.
This exhibition showcases the work of jet carvers who made a reputation for themselves as some of Whitby’s finest lapidaries, and also features cameos of famous figures throughout history including Michelangelo by Edward H. Greenbury and some beautiful pieces dedicated to Greek and Roman mythological figures, including an incredible matching pair of cameos showing Neptune and Libya, by James Ainsley.
Come and visit the exhibition to see these extraordinary miniature masterpieces and appreciate that there is a great deal more to them than first meets the eye!
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Past Exhibitions and Events
The Krenn Fossil Collection
This exhibition showcased a private collection of fossils dating from the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods that had never before been seen by the public. From Ichthyosaur’s to Plesiosaur’s, all of these incredibly rare specimens were found along Whitby’s ancient coastline and provided a fascinating visual and educational display to people of all ages.
The exhibition is now on display at the Yorkshire Natural History Museum.
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Neogeographies – An Exhibition by Helen Snell
In 2019, artist Helen Snell staged an art exhibition at the Museum of Whitby Jet, Whitby Museum and the Captain Cook Memorial Museum with the aim of reinterpreting and reframing the Captain Cook narrative to challenge notions of home, nationality, identity and freedom of movement.
Captain James Cook’s official artists recorded some of the first encounters between Europeans and indigenous people with varying degrees of objectivity. On closer inspection, these seductive drawings, paintings and prints often reveal a darker, more troubling subtext. Her artistic commentary was shown through a series of costumes, props, a collaboration piece with jet worker Rebecca Tucker, and fantastic sculptures produced through laser cutting and water jet cutting. These works were in turn used to create a series of period style staged photographs.
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Red Carpet Premiere – The Amazing Spiderman
Back in 2012, an incredible collaboration took place between W. Hamond and Scott Henshall, also known as the ‘King of the Red Carpet’.
Whitby jet is not a gemstone you would necessarily associate with Hollywood premieres, but at the London opening of The Amazing Spiderman, jet finally had its turn, with a spider themed LBD, designed by Mr. Henshall and manufactured by the talented craftsmen of W. Hamond, using sterling silver, antique and modern Whitby jet and carats upon carats of scintillating white and black diamonds. The dress was unveiled at the glittering event, worn by actress and singer Donna Air.
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