MUSEUMS, DISAPPEARED & LATENT

The Bramah Museum of Tea & Coffee

Edward Bramah¹ had worked in the tea and coffee industries as a planter, a taster, and an executive. In 1966, as a result of the Cultural Revolution, he lost his job with the Chinese National Tea Trade Corporation. He set up Bramah Tea & Coffee. He believed that the warm beverages market was switching decisively towards coffee, therefore, he started designing coffee filter machines. He amassed a number of early coffee machines in order to study how they had worked. These provided him with the core of exhibits for a museum. In 1992 he opened The Bramah Museum of Tea & Coffee.

In 2010 the Museum seemed to have entered a latent phase of its existence.

Location: 40 Southwark Street, SE1 1UN

See Also: COFFEE; TEA

Website: wwwteaandcoffeemuseum.co.uk

¹. Mr Bramah was a descendant of Joseph Bramah.

The Egyptian Hall

William Bullock was born into a family of showmen who toured a collection of waxworks around the country. As a youth he settled in Liverpool. There, he bought items that seamen brought with them from overseas. He amassed a diverse collection of artefacts. The assemblage reached a size and a range that he was able to start charging people to see it. He continued to acquire items. In 1806 he bought a number of artefacts that had been part of Sir Ashton Lever's Holophusikon. Three years later Mr Bullock moved to London taking his collection with him. He opened an exhibition hall at what was then No. 22 Piccadilly. Initially, this was known as the Liverpool Museum. The venture proved to be a success and he had the building reconstructed so that it was adorned with Egyptian style motifs; on its fa ade were two large statues of the deities Isis and Osiris. When it reopened in 1812 it bore the name London Museum on its exterior. However, it soon became known as The Egyptian Hall. The items within it were arranged on a scientific basis; animals were clustered in habitat groups.

Bullock joined a variety of learned organisations. In 1816 he had a coup when he acquired Napoleon's carriage.¹ This proved to be a major attraction for the public. It was displayed at the museum for eight months and then toured the British Isles. Over three-quarters of a million people saw the vehicle.² The Hall remained popular with the public. Two years later the entrepreneur tried to sells its artefacts as a collection. He was unable to secure a buyer. In 1819 he chose to close it down. He disposed of its exhibits by an auction that was held over 26 days. He then allowed other showmen to rent the facility in order to host their exhibits. The most notable of these was the collection of Egyptian artefacts that were displayed by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, an Italian-born circus strongman. In 1822-3 Bullock visited Mexico in order to acquire Aztec artefacts. In 1824 he displayed these in his Hall. Subsequently, they were bought by the British Museum.

In 1827 Bullock sold his lease of the Piccadilly site to the bookseller George Lackington. The building continued to be used as an exhibition hall and gallery space. In 1844 it was where American showman P.T. Barnum exhibited General Tom Thumb.

In 1905 the Egyptian Hall was demolished.

Location: 170-173 Piccadilly, W1J 9EJ (purple, turquoise)

¹. Following the Battle of Waterloo, this had come into the possession of Field Marshal Bl cher. He had given it to the Prince Regent. As ever, the prince was in need of ready money. He sold it to Bullock for 2500.

². Bullock sold on the carriage. In 1843 it was purchased by Madame Tussaud.

The Holophusikon

Ashton Lever was born into the Lancashire gentry. His family seat was close to Manchester. There, he had an aviary that he devoted considerable funds to. He bought birds from dealers in London, who had themselves imported them from overseas. The assemblage came to be regarded as the best in the country. In the 1760s he started collecting stuffed birds after having seen an exhibition of them at Spring Gardens. He then switched his interest in collecting to fossils and shells. He disposed of his birds in order to be better able to concentrate upon his new passion.

The Lever collection attracted numerous visitors. In 1773 he moved to London, where he displayed it in Leicester House, using sixteen rooms to do so. He termed his museum The Holophusikon.¹ He continued to acquire natural history items and took to collecting ethnographic artefacts as well. He intended that the museum should be an institution of cultural and scholarly substance. It was regarded as being such by many of his contemporaries. One of the rooms was devoted to articles that Captain James Cook had brought back from his voyages. It was rumoured that this led Sir Joseph's Banks's to regard Lever and his museum in a hostile light. In 1778 a knighthood was conferred upon him.

Lever charged for admission to The Holophusikon. However, the revenue that this generated proved to be insufficient to prevent the scheme's finances from collapsing in upon themselves. His debts required him to sell his collection. In 1783 the British Museum s trustees declined to buy it. The following year he secured an Act of Parliament that allowed him to run a lottery was organised in which the first prize was the contents of the Holophusikon. However, less than a quarter of the 36,000 guinea tickets were sold by the time of the draw. The winner was James Parkinson, an estate agent and law stationer. He came across the winning ticket, while going through his late wife's effects. Sir Ashton returned to Lancashire, where he resumed his life as a country gentleman. Mr Parkinson tried to sell the museum to various European crowned heads. They all declined the offer. He commissioned the construction of a rotunda and a set of rooms at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge. In 1788 the museum relocated to this site. There, it lingered for a couple of decades. The artefacts were displayed poorly. In 1806 the Cabinet sought Banks's advice on whether or not the government should buy the collection for the nation. He counselled that it should not. The assemblage was dispersed by auction. It took over two months for the sale to be conducted. However, as late as 1829 some of the unsold items were exhibited at Camberwell Fair. The vacated building went on to experience a diverse set of uses.

Location: 3 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8NY

Leicester Place, WC2H 7BP. The street occupies the site of Leicester House. (red, yellow)

¹. Derived from the Ancient Greek words holos meaning whole and phusikos natural.

The Royal Toxophilite Society

By the late 18^thC bows and arrows had long been ethnographic items in England. Lever employed Thomas Waring as his secretary. The latter had an interest in archery. In c.1780 a meeting was convened at Leicester House at which the Toxophilite Society was founded.

See Also: GUNS

David Backhouse 2024