Object Handling Session with Elisabeth Bogdan
Sotheby's Institute of Art, 30 Bedford Square

This session is an introduction to the Kiddell Collection (also colloquially known as ‘The Black Museum’). The Collection is a fascinating accumulation of fakes, forgeries and reproductions that was built up over a number of decades by Sotheby’s Auction House former Director, Jim Kiddell, and now on permanent loan to Sotheby’s Institute. Originally formed as a pedagogic handling tool for auction house specialists, the Collection today continues to support student enquiry. Importantly, it also is of scholarly interest to specialists, scholars and collectors, who regularly use the Collection to further their knowledge, and who contribute to its evolving interpretation and authentication.

Session leader bio
Lis Bogdan’s specialist teaching includes 18th to 20th-century European and American design, decorative arts, and architectural history. Previously Lis was senior lecturer at Southampton Solent University, and has taught at Oxford Brookes University, the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Bogdan is a former Trustee of the Design History Society.

This event is part of Bedford Square Festival, for the full list of events please visit www.bedfordsquarefestival.co.uk