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 In
1976, a suitable space was made available in the Ashmolean to house a
new display of objects surviving from the Tradescant collection. Construction
began on a new gallery in August, 1977, and on 22 May, 1978, the Tradescant
Room was officially opened by the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Rex Richards.
Generous
contributions towards furnishing the new Tradescant Room were made by
individuals and institutions in Britain and in the United States. The
layout of the room was designed by the staff of the Department of Antiquities,
with Mr. M. G. Welch, the Assistant Keeper concerned, playing a prominent
role. The intention was to give the impression of a seventeenth-century
museum, while using modern display methods. The fenestration of the old
Ashmolean in Broad Street was copied from a contemporary engraving, and
from nineteenth-century photographs. The panelling and mouldings were
adapted from early seventeenth-century examples in the Principal's Lodgings,
Brasenose College, by kind permission of the Principal and Fellows.
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