Posted on 01/30/2006 12:54:01 PM PST by untenured
A stumbling visitor to a top museum has destroyed a set of priceless vases which stood on a shelf for 40 years. The 300-year-old Qing vases were among the best known artefacts at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
The visitor is said to have slipped on a loose shoelace and fallen down a staircase bringing the vases crashing down as he tried to steady himself.
The vases, donated in 1948, were said to hold a "significant value" and were among the best known pieces on display.
The museum declined to identify the man who had tripped.
The accident happened last Wednesday and the museum said it was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident.
Margaret Greeves, the museum's assistant director, said: "They are in very, very small pieces, but we are determined to put them back together."
Visitor unharmed
A spokesman for the museum said: "An accident at lunchtime on Wednesday 25 January involving a member of the public resulted in damage to three oriental porcelain vases which had been displayed for many years on a staircase window sill.
"An ambulance was called but the visitor left the Museum on foot having been seen by paramedics and staff first-aiders.
"The damaged porcelain ornamental vases are Chinese, Qing Dynasty, reign of Kangxi (1662-1722), late 17th or early 18th century, painted in enamels in the famille verte palette with traces of gilding."
Duncan Robinson, director of the museum, said: "It was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident but we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the Museum unharmed.
"Conservators are evaluating the damage prior to repair work being considered. Whilst the method of displaying objects is always under review, it is important not to over-react and make the Museum's collections less accessible to the visiting public."
Fitzwilliam Museum will repair these vases after they were smashed
paging inspector clouseau! Leslie nielsen! maxwell smart!
If they were the best exhibit why were they placed on the stairs, and not better protected from visitors?
D'OH!
"Not anymore!"
Okay, who let Chevy Chase in?
Maybe the vases shouldn't have been displayed on an unsecured shelf in a stairwell....
HATE it when that happens!
LOL!
The vases were merely on a shelf in a stairway? Just sitting on a shelf for the falling visitor to grab? If that's the story, then Lloyds of London better take a gander at their security system and reevaluate their policy.
Billy Ray Valentine: Hey, sorry about that.
Randolph Duke: It's perfectly alright William. It was your vase.
Billy Ray Valentine: That was a cheap vase, right? That was a fake?
Randolph Duke: I believe we paid $35,000. But if I remember correctly, the insurance company valued it at $50,000. You see, Mortimer? William has already made us $15,000.
[Coleman, Mortimer, Randolph, and Billy Ray start laughing]
Billy Ray Valentine: You want me to break something else?
Randolph Duke, Mortimer Duke, Coleman: NO!
LOL!..that was my first thought. Classic.
ping
*snicker*
And after being told she nods quietly, goes upstairs and returns witht the sword he brought back...at this point she begins chasing you round the house to eact a much-delayed punishment!
JERRY: Alright, alright. What's the big hubbub, bub?
(Kramer runs to his apartment, then returns with a duffel bag. He places it on the table, and reveals the statue)
GEORGE: Kramer, I can't believe it. Oh, you're my hero!
KRAMER: Yeah.
JERRY: Kramer, what did you do?
KRAMER: Well, let's put it this way: I didn't take him to People's Court.
GEORGE: I feel like a huge weight's been lifted off my shoulders. (Giddily) I.. I.. I feel happy! Kramer, I don't know how to thank you!
KRAMER: Well, I'll think of something.. (Slaps George on the back - sending the statue crashing to the ground)
We do the same thing now. All the kids are in our 40's and 50's, and the statute of limitations has run out on all of that stuff, so it's fun when we get together to sit around and fess up to Mom.
My sister, now pushing 50, had a great one last time...
"Remember that little bird we had in the cage in the livingroom... the one that died? It didn't really "just" die. I opened the door and put my hand inside and tried to make it get on my finger. It flew around and around the cage and I kept chasing it around and around trying to make it get on my finger, and then it stopped moving and just laid there. So I closed the door and pretended I didn't know anything about it."
Yes, my sister is a bird killer!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.