Friends of Newport Museum and Art Gallery

Oliver Blackmore, the Collections and Engagement Officer at Newport Museum and Art Gallery, has recently acquired a brooch under the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales (PAS Wales).  Dr Mark Redknap from National Museum Wales, comments - the decorative medieval brooch inlaid with niello is 13th or 14th Century. [Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed into the engraved lines in the metal.] The brooch was found in January 2019 in Langstone, Newport, by Steve Cashmore  and Mark Jones with Newport Museum and Art Gallery hoping to acquire the brooch for its collection.  Descriptio DescriptioNiello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or

The Tragic Group: The Russian Invasion of Finland  Artist: Merlyn Oliver Evans With the Ukraine Russian War taking place Roger Cucksey, who was  Keeper of Art In Newport Art Gallery over a period of over thirty years, has reminded us of the relevance of this painting. The Winter War, also known as the First Soviet-Finnish War, was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. The war began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The painting shows a large desolate landscape with a group of people in attitudes of despair in the foreground. It was first exhibited in 1956. It is tempera on a board.  Born in Cardiff, Merlyn Oliver Evans (1910 -1973) studied first at the Glasgow School of Art  and later at the Royal College of Art, where he would go on to teach at the end of his career.  A gifted painter and graphic artist, Merlyn’s work became