Palace items go on display at museum
Items from the demolished Hamilton Palace are among more than 3000 objects which will go on display at the National Museum of Scotland this week.
Before coming down in the 1920s, Hamilton Palace was one of the greatest treasure houses in Scotland.
And now objects from the Palace will be displayed in the new Art of Living gallery, which explores art and style from the medieval period to the mid-19th century.
On display will be the Hamiltonrothschild Tazza,a large, Byzantine sardonyx bowl on an enamelled gold stand, which was the most highly-valued object in the 10th Duke of Hamilton’s collection, alongside a number of other objects including a silver-gilt tea service which belonged to the Emperor Napoleon and a silver-gilt travelling service, which belonged to Napoleon’s sister, Princess Pauline Borghese.
The items are on show against the striking backdrop of a sevenmetre long section of wall from around 1690, which was removed from a drawing room at Hamilton Palace shortly before it was demolished.
As one of the world’s great museums, the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh uniquely brings together science and art, the natural world and the diversity of human cultures, inviting visitors to explore the world under one roof.
Hamilton Palace once stood where council sports facilities now stand – at Palace Grounds retail park.
The building’s demolition was due to a combination of high running costs and subsidence in the surrounding area caused by mine workings.