Visual Arts

'My Most Treasured Pieces' features rare-printed cottons, luscious silks and jewel-like velvets from the Henry Ginsburg Collection and will be on show for the first time ever at Temple Newsam. In total the collection comprises of approximately 1,500 objects. On show is the final part of his collection which came as a bequest in December 2007. Henry referred to these as his "treasured pieces".

The unique pieces will be displayed alongside a Vivienne Westwood jacket, once worn by Jerry Hall, which was inspired by an historic fabric of which Temple Newsam holds the original.

The Westwood jacket is made from a print of a textile called "Le Mouton Cheri" – The Darling Shepherdess, of which Temple Newsam House holds an original. The fabric is known as a "toile", originating in France and dates back to 1785, and it was given to the museum by Henry Ginsburg in 2005.

Henry Ginsburg was a renowned scholar of Asian art and manuscripts and son of the famous American antique dealer, Cora Ginsburg. The Henry Ginsburg Collection was bequeathed to Temple Newsam House and is one of the most significant gifts of textiles to a British museum.

This exhibition showcases the most spectacular items in the Ginsburg bequest. Particular highlights include 18th Century European brocades, an early ecclesiastical silk and an array of English and French printed cottons. Of particular note is an enormous "scrap book" of historic fabrics which was given to Henry by his mother to encourage him to take an interest in textiles.

My Most Treasured Pieces: Textiles from the Henry Ginsburg Collection runs until Sunday 29 March 2009.