Norfolk museum curators reveal 2023's remarkable objects

Those are among some of the remarkable objects which curators at Norfolk Museums Service have picked as their favourite acquisitions during 2023.

Strangers’ Hall in Norwich (curator Cathy Terry)

Dolls House

The dolls' house donated to Strangers' Hall by Alfred Taylor (Image: Submitted)

This Victorian Villa-style house was created by Maureen and Alfred Taylor after they retired from their job as fruiterers on Norwich Market.

Over a number of years, Mrs Taylor chose the furniture, the dolls and carefully organized its arrangement and Mr Taylor painstakingly painted and decorated the house and fitted all the lighting.

The dolls' house donated to Strangers' Hall by Alfred Taylor (Image: Submitted)

Mr Taylor donated it to Strangers' Hall, where it is on display in the Charing Cross museum.

Ancient House Museum, Thetford (curator Oliver Bone)

Maharajah Duleep Singh Walking Stick

The walking stick which belonged to Duleep Singh and was donated to Thetford's Ancient House Museum (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

A walking stick owned by the Maharajah Duleep Singh and presented to him by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII (1841-1910).

The handsome walking stick is on display after it was donated anonymously to the museum - founded by Duleep Singh's son Prince Frederick.

Duleep Singh was the last maharajah of the Punjab and, after he surrendered his lands and possessions to the British in the 1840s, he moved to England and lived at Elveden Hall, near Thetford.

Norwich Castle, Museum and Art Gallery

'Panoramic Landscape with Cornfields and Dunes Beside the Sea' by Jacob van Ruisdael (fine art curator Dr Giorgia Bottinelli)

'Panoramic Landscape with Cornfields and Dunes Beside the Sea' by Jacob van Ruisdael (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

The spectacular landscape by the 17th century Dutch painter depicts a low-lying land, thought to be imaginary, dominated by a great expanse of cloud-filled sky.

Ruisdael’s panoramic views of this type are generally acknowledged as among his greatest works and were known to have had a major influence on British painters, most notably John Constable and the painters of the Norwich School.

Silver seal matrix (archaeology curator Tim Pestell)

An unusual silver seal matrix found near Holt, which dates to the 13th or 14th centuries (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

A metal detectorist found this unusual silver seal matrix, which dates from the late 13th or 14th century, near Holt in 2022.

It depicts a two-storey building, with a tower to either side and a half-length figure of a bishop, with pointed mitre and vestments draped around the neck with an elaborate collar.

The lower storey has a figure which appears to depict a pilgrim or monk.

It wil go on show in the castle’s new Gallery of Medieval Life when the restored keep re-opens this summer.

Lynn Museum (curators Oliver Bone and Dayna Woolbright)

Walter Dexter's paintbrush

Walter Dexter's paintbrush (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

Walter Dexter was an artist who was brought up in King's Lynn and went on the become a member of the Royal Society of British Artists.

The brush was donated to the museum by Pauline Harrison. In 1948, when she was about 10, she went to visit the artist, who lived in East Winch, and he gave her the brush.

Walter Dexter at his easel (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

Copper alloy horse

The copper alloy horse discovered at Sedgeford (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)Discovered at Sedgeford in 2008 and donated by the landowner, this three-dimensional cast copper alloy horse measures 22mm from nose to tail, 24.4mm from ear to hoof and 6.5mm in width, weighing 5.85g.

The horse, which is not yet on display, is finely made and X-ray analysis indicated it is either Roman or medieval.

Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse (curator Rachel Kidd)

Starched white nurse’s belt and buttons

Assistant nurse Eileen Olive Woods caring for an infant at Gressenhall Public Assistance Institute in 1931 (Image: Unknown)

This belt and buttons were owned by Eileen Olive Woods, who worked at Gressenhall Public Assistance Institute - now Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse - as an assistant nurse in the early 1930s.

Workhouse objects are very rare, and before they were donated by Mrs Woods' family, the museum did not have any items of clothing or items used by the nurses who worked in the infirmary.

They will be displayed in a new Making the Rounds exhibition opening in March, which tells stories of workhouse nurses.

Cromer Museum (curator Wayne Kett)

Photograph taken by Olive Edis in 1910

Olive Edis photograph from 1910 (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

Olive Edis, who had studios in Sheringham, was one of the most important photographers of the first half of the 20th century.

This photograph, which is not yet on display, was donated to the museum by the owner, who acquired it in the 1970s.

It is not certain who the photograph is of, although it has been suggested it could be Lady Jane Strachey - a suffragist and writer.