Winchester College Society 17 College Street Winchester SO23 9LX Tel: +44 (0)1962 621 217 E-mail: [email protected] www.winchestercollege.org Registered Charity No. 1139000

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Your chance to leave your mark

An historic opportunity.

Help us to make the most of our unique collection of treasures. Winchester College is fortunate to have in its possession a rich collection of treasures from a variety of provenances. Over the years these have been stored and displayed in a number of different locations. Now, to make them accessible to a wider public, we are proposing to convert the Warden’s Stables into a fully functional museum - a creative use for a beautiful medieval building. It gives us great pleasure to invite you to play your part in this important new project. By your contribution you will be leaving your mark on the College’s future in a tangible and imaginative way.

Dr Ralph Townsend, Headmaster

Sir David Clementi, Warden

Top: Seated Homer on a coin of Smyrna, 2nd-1st century BC Below: Xuande six-character mark on the base of a Ming dynasty bowl

A glorious past. A sacred trust.

Winchester’s earliest museum was built in the 1890s. Its contents were archaeological, artistic and scientific, with, at their core, a well-chosen collection of Greek vases and large galleries filled with casts of classical sculpture. In the early decades of the twentieth century the collection was further enlarged, mainly through generous donations. As the years passed, the museum building experienced a number of changes and was put to new uses; and the collections were dispersed to different parts of the School. Then, in 1982, a bequest of Chinese porcelain from Sir Montagu and Lady Duberly, in memory of their son, James, who had been killed in the Second World War, inspired the conversion of a medieval beer cellar into the Treasury we know today.

‘My aunt and uncle started collecting Chinese porcelain to fill the gap left by the loss of their only child, James, shortly after he had left Winchester. The plans for the Warden’s Stables would have filled them with delight.’ Hugh Duberly (I, 1955-60)

But the Treasury has three major problems: accessibility, atmosphere and space. – Because of its position in a part of the College where boys live, free access to the public is virtually impossible – Its atmosphere is often too humid to conserve our collections properly – If our treasures are to be properly used in teaching, we need more space for display, study and documentation Chinese pilgrim bottle with magpies, 18th century The Warden’s Stables

A new way to tell our unique story.

Our history is in our hands.

The College’s first museum was described as ‘a fresh resource for the intelligent use of leisure’.

The Warden and Fellows have approved the Museum project, on the understanding that it

Teaching methods may have changed since then, but the objects themselves retain their

will be funded from outside sources. So, it’s up to us: in order to realise this bold vision, we

ability to inspire across the ages. A watercolour of eighteenth-century London, an Egyptian

urgently need the generous support of Old Wykehamists, of parents and of all other interested

pectoral with an inscription from the Book of the Dead, a Chinese dragon, a portrait of a

friends of the College.

nymph stamped on a coin from the age of Alexander the Great – if all these are to be preserved and properly enjoyed, they must be given a better home.

The project aims to:

The vision of the project is to recreate a beautiful building and fill it with a display of the most beautiful of the College’s treasures in fine new cases, for the delight and education of its visitors.

– create a beautiful building where the College’s treasures can be displayed to best advantage – provide appropriate environmental conditions for our collections – make effective use of the collections for teaching and learning – increase access to the treasures for our pupils, other schools and the general public Gorgon’s head on an Athenian cup, about 530 BC

The College now proposes to create a new teaching museum, with public access, in a remarkably well preserved but under-used medieval building, the Warden’s Stables, which lies on the edge of the original College and is currently used only as a storeroom for bicycles and for furniture. The proximity of this site both to the College libraries and to the main entrance on College Street means that it is ideally placed to welcome pupils and visitors alike.

Above: Egyptian pectoral with inscription from the Book of the Dead, 13th-11th century BC Right: Head of a nymph on a coin of Neapolis (Naples), 4th century BC

Ming dynasty ivory seal in the form of a hare

Help us to write the latest chapter in our 600-year story.

The estimated cost of the project is around £3 million. Building and capital works will account for about half this sum; the rest will provide an endowment to fund annual maintenance of the building (which is Grade 1 listed), a curator and other running costs. We have already secured some donations. However, we need to raise the full amount before this inspiring project can get properly under way. And time is of the essence: remember that a single donation now is probably worth two later on, or, as the Romans would have put it, bis dat qui cito dat. We do hope you will choose to join us in our endeavour to leave this generation’s mark on the Winchester College of the future.

The benefits of being part of it.

We would like to offer our most generous donors recognition appropriate to their level of giving. There are significant naming opportunities available to major donors.

‘This conversion of the Warden’s Stables gives us a wonderful opportunity to provide, both for the School and for the general public, a museum fit for displaying the treasures that have been acquired over the years - paintings, watercolours, books, manuscripts and other works of art.’ Anthony du Boulay (C, 1943-46) Athenian cup by the ‘Winchester Painter’, about 510 BC

Additionally, all significant donors will be added to the Benefactors’ Volume, an impressive leather-bound book with all names listed in handwritten script. The book will ultimately take its place in the Archives alongside records going back to the time of the foundation of the College.

How you can help.

You can support this vital undertaking in a number of ways. If you would like to discuss tax efficient ways of giving to the Museum project, please contact: Tamara Templer The Development Office Winchester College SO23 9LX

‘The mute yet eloquent testimony of these objets d’art is a fitting complement to Winchester’s proud tradition of humanistic endeavour. They deserve to be seen.’ Thomas Ooi (H, 2007- ) &

t: 01962 621407 e: [email protected]

Michael Dunn Goekjian (Coll, 2007- )

17 College Street

Gifts may be pledged and given over a maximum of 5 years. Share giving grants you relief on both Income and Capital Gains Tax. If you are thinking of making a donation to this project, and also about selling shares, consider combining the two: we will benefit considerably, and so, as a tax payer, will you!

Figurine from the Bay Islands, Honduras, AD 1000-1530