Tunbridge Wells Museum part of 'A History of the World'

Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery is to take part in a unique partnership between the BBC, the British Museum and 350 museums and institutions from across the country.

'A History of the World' brings together 10 historical items from Kent which tell the history of the County and its place in the world, each reflecting life in the county.

Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery is home of 1 of the 10 objects, a Tunbridge ware work table, chosen by the BBC.

With its roots in the 1600s, Tunbridge ware is the earliest British holiday souvenir industry. Just as Tunbridge Wells itself provided a model for later seaside resorts, Tunbridge ware pioneered the centrality of souvenirs to the holiday experience, meeting the demand from visitors who came to 'take the waters'. Tunbridge ware also influenced the nature of those souvenirs elsewhere, interacting with related industries such as Mauchline ware and Killarney ware. The chosen table was made by Edmund Nye, using designs created by him for the Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace in 1851.

Tunbridge ware reached its peak of production and creative ingenuity in the Victorian area, when it was sold throughout the industrialised world and widely imitated in Continental Europe. The chosen table is one of the finest productions of Nye's manufactory, which began in 1840 and continued under his designer and successor Thomas Barton until 1903. Contemporary commentators regarded Nye and Barton as the greatest exponents of the industry, producing work of the highest artistic quality.

A full list of the 10 objects chosen for Kent can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/kent.