Macclesfield Psalter fundraising continues

The auction price bid by the Getty hasn't been matched, but efforts continue as the British government grants a last, three-month extension:

More than £650,000 has already been pledged but a further £1m must be raised by February next year through the appeal, organised by the National Art Collections Fund.

David Barrie, director of the fund, said: "It is fantastic that we have been given more time – the weeks to come will be critical to the success of the campaign.

"The psalter is an object of amazing inventiveness and outstanding craftsmanship, produced at a time when this country’s artists were famous throughout Europe.

"It would be desperately sad if we as a nation were not able to raise the necessary funds to keep it in the UK. Every donation, however small, will take us a step closer to keeping it where it belongs."

Ironically, the appeal was announced on BBC Two’s new Culture Show a week after Macclesfield was officially branded a cultural desert.

Read more here. I must say, the world of the Psalter is remote enough that I find the following quote entirely unconvincing:

Dr David Starkey, author, historian and broadcaster, said: "I do not automatically support campaigns to keep works of art in England. But for the Macclesfield Psalter the case is open and shut: the Psalter was created in East Anglia and it will lose half its meaning if it is torn from its native roots."

Posted by David on November 17, 2004 2:01 PM