Best exhibit at the National Museum of Scotland

Published on Tuesday 11 November 2008 18:42

1 THE PAOLOZZI STATUES In the basement (level 0) of the National Museum of Scotland are four groups each of three bronze figures by sculptor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi.

The figures symbolise the strength of early Scottish people and are designed to be deliberately androgynous because, in those days, jewellery was not just for decoration but was a symbol of power, so it was worn by men as well as women.

The four groups introduce the four themes of the archaeological displays in the museum – using the resources of the land to make things, trading objects across a frontier represented by the concrete plinth, power and majesty represented by the seated king with his orb of power, and religion and the afterlife represented by the statue stepping down into death without jewellery, because “you can’t take it with you”.

2 THE CRAMOND LIONESS At the far end of the basement level there is a sandstone lioness.

She is shown digging her claws into a man’s shoulders and biting the top of his head. The image represents the triumph of death over life and was the lid of a tomb found at the Roman fort at Cramond. It lay in the river Almond for about 1,800 years until, after a storm had flushed out the river and there was a low tide, a ferryman saw carved stone sticking out of the ooze.

The sculpture was lifted out and installed in the museum just in time for the opening by the Queen on St Andrew’s Day 1998.

3 THE HUNTERSTON BROOCH Through the archway beside the lioness you will find a magnificent Pictish brooch.

Many brooches have come down to us through the ages because, in olden days, there were no zip fasteners, so people wrapped lengths of cloth around their bodies and fastened them with brooches.

This one is “the daddy o’ them a’” and one of the most beautiful and valuable objects in the museum.

Look closely at the gold filigree wire and you will see that, between the parallel filaments, there are tiny gold granules.

This shows that 1,200 years ago, people had just as much brainpower and artistic appreciation as we have now, they just didn’t have our technology.

4 THE CLARSACH On level one, just through the entrance to “Kingdom of the Scots” exhibition, there is a clarsach – the Scottish harp.

The instrument is more than 500 years old and belonged at one time to Mary, Queen of Scots.

It is not strung because it is far too old and fragile to be played, but it is beautifully carved – look for the carved fish heads and the patterns burned into the sound box.

Nearby, there is touch screen where you can listen to musician Alison Kinnaird playing a replica.

5 THE MAIDEN The “Law and Order” gallery on level one contains various instruments of torture but is dominated by the ultimate deterrent – the maiden.

This is the actual machine that cut off the heads of more than 100 people from the 1560s to about 1710 when it went into disuse.

It was given to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in the 1790s just when the French revolutionaries were using Madam Guillotine to cut the heads off aristos during the “Terror”. So, we had the technology before the French did!

&#149 For further information on the National Museum of Scotland visit www.nms.ac.uk