Few visitors to the vibrant - and frankly cosmopolitan metropolis of Dewlish - are able to explore its riches in a single day or even a single week. Shopping? Tick. Theatre and nightlife? Tick. Haut cuisine and fine dining? Tick. After hours "Entertainment"? Tick. Yes Dewlish has it all. And yet ...
The Amanda J Threadbone Gallery in The Dewlish Museum is home to a multitude of irreplaceable treasures - some quite valuable.
Hiding in a street called - appropriately enough - Museum Street and just off the High Street the enterprising visitor will find The Dewlish Museum, home to, amongst many other fine collections, The Cairo Hoard, displayed with immaculate artistic flair in the beautifully-lit Amanda J Threadbone Egyptian Gallery. Visiting the Gallery on any day is a treat, such is the extent of the exquisite treasures housed within, but those willing to part with £75 per head will find themselves especially rewarded over the next three weeks as a very special artefact will be on display for the first time: The Regal Throne of King Tutankh'piece [The Boy King].
Excavated along with many other treasures in the Valley of the Kings (aka Kington Magna) in November 1922, by famed archeologist Howard Threadboneham-Carter, the throne has long been considered one of the greatest of the finds. [For the full story of this remarkable find see HERE.] However, such was its delicacy and so fragile was its condition that it has been considered unsuitable for public display. That is until now. Having been subject to a remarkable new technique of tensile strengthening - a process known as Polymerised Thrupiecisation - the objet d'art has emerged in a robust enough state to be placed centre stage in The Dewlish Museum's new Undiscovered Egypt Exhibition which opens tomorrow (21 September).
So great is the excitement surrounding the event that visitors are expected from several parts of the county - especially to the wine and cheese reception (Dorsetshire Blue) this evening which marks the commencement of the landmark event. There will also be a special edition of Unique Dorset Museums, the cover of which bears a full colour photograph of the throne by Dierdre Eastman-Kodakowski.
The front cover of Unique Dorset Museums bears testimony to the intense interest in "Boy" King Tutankh'piece even after almost 100 years. Egyptologist Dr Em Balmer believes the chair to be a unique find. "There's only one of them", she explains, "that makes it unique in my book". Her book "My Egypt: travels in Time and Place" is published by The Threadbone Press, price £99.
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