Arts and Culture

Following on from November's tour of discovery of the new Swiss history exhibition at the National Museum, chairlady Francesca was wearing her Arts and Culture hat this time as she arranged a guided tour of the newly displayed collections of treasures. Once again our guide was Corinna Pinna, who was in her element with these glimpses into the private lives of the Swiss people. And the setting for the new exhibition did not disappoint either.

As we learnt with the Discovering Zurich and Switzerland group, Zürich's rather old-fashioned national museum had entered the 21st century with two new shows in the newly renovated wing of the 19th century building, located just a stone's throw from the main station. The former armoury now houses an innovative display of historical exhibits on the first floor, displayed in different eras, themes and colours. On the ground floor, many of the museum's most precious objects have now been arranged according to different categories or collections under one arched concrete roof. The main hall has retained the neo-Romanesque ceiling design but is now fashioned out of modern, fireproof materials. The reason for the new arrangement was not just modernisation, as we might have imagined, but also to house the priceless artefacts in a secure, air-conditioned environment for insurance purposes. Swiss pragmatism at work!

The anteroom contained a stunning collection of old fashioned sledges which the middle class families would have used for special events. On the facing wall was a collection of portraits of the locally renowned Lavater family who donated them as a gift to the museum. On the adjacent wall were displayed furniture samples from each epoch, culminating in the modern Coray chair, a design classic.

However, this room was just a taster of what was to be revealed in the main hall. What had previously been three rooms has now been transformed into one impressively large hall with the arched ribs designed to replicate the original timbers. A path through the display space formed a thread to lead the eye and the visitor forward. The new design was by Kobler and the architects were Christ and Gantenbein, while the original building had been completed in 1898 on the 50th anniversary of the confederation. The flagship piece on display was a bejewelled gold and silver vessel in the shape of a shoe which was found in Basel and had originally contained the bones of slaughtered innocents, according to legend.

Next we looked at the textiles display, including chasubles, the cloaks worn by priests during church services, originating from different regions of Switzerland. Other textiles included tapestries and embroidery on linen in wool or silk. One fine example was worked by Liugia Morellin from Konstanz and showed her family and their household. Next we saw some fine carpets and altarpieces with religious and mythological scenes depicted in woven thread, one example of which dated back to 1486. Corinna described how the museum had owned two outer sides of an embroidered triptych for which the centre panel had later been bought by chance at Christie's as recently as 1980.

Then we admired the globe looted from St. Gallen whose historic library we visited in 2009. There is still acrimony between the two old cities over this event even though St. Gallen now owns a splendid, one million franc working replica. Nearby in one of the side cases we saw a "blackamoor" automaton clock, an inkstand and desk tidy and an exquisite small golden globe showing the planetary movements which was made by Jost Bürgi during the Renaissance.

Then we looked at the impressive case of secular gold and silver items which featured many different drinking cups fashioned as sailing frigates, fish, snails and other ornamental designs. These were often given as gifts to the wealthy Zürich guilds during the 16th and 17th centuries by aspiring new members. A special example was the gift from the Doge of Venice in the shape of the St. Mark's lion. Finally we had time to admire the fine collection of glassware including early Stüssihof colourless glass, coloured Venetian glass and samples from Roberto Niederer who we knew from Hergiswil.

The fourteen ZIWA members who supported this first outing of 2010 were not disappointed and we may look forward to future tours of the porcelain at the Zunfthaus zur Meisen or the coming exhibition of Abrahams fabrics next October. Thanks to Francesca and Anne for a delightful visit, and to Corinna for her fascinating insights.

Julia Newton, 1 February 2010

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