Royal River

Power, Pageantry & the Thames
  • Magnificent gilded barges, liverymen in their finest uniforms, the splendour of lavish celebrations: the Thames is the ‘royal river’, used for centuries by British monarchs to involve the people in ceremony and festivities displaying their regal status. The exhibition is open 27 April - 9 September 2012.









Object of the month

Editorial Choice
  • Jug

    Earthenware jug commemorating Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805). It is painted yellow with three transfer-printed panels in reserve, very crudely coloured in bright green, yellow, magenta and brown; it has a reddish-brown decorative border. One one side is a warship under sail and under the lip a boy and four sheep…

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Collections blog

Inside the collection
  • Yinka Shonibare, MBE’s Ship in a Bottle - 17 May 2012

    If you have passed the Museum lately you may have noticed the arrival  of a giant ship in a bottle which was formally located in Trafalgar Square. A campaign was launched by the Art Fund and the National Maritime Museum at the end of 2011 and successfully raised £362,500 enabling the National Maritime Museum to [...]


Caird library blog

What's new at the library
  • May’s Item of the Month - 16 May 2012

    Inspired by discoveries made on a recent holiday to France, May’s item of the month is a look at a rare book from the Library’s collection.  The Voyage of La Perouse round the world in the years by Jean-François de Galaup, Count of Lapérouse, is a finely illustrated account of an eighteenth-century exploration. Eleanor (Head [...]