Number 2, 2020
Sacred Adornment: Jewelry as Belief in Ancient Egypt, a stunning new exhibition at Glencairn Museum, explores religious beliefs as expressed in the Museum’s collection of ancient Egyptian jewelry. By examining the materials and symbols present in these ornaments, we can come away with a deeper understanding of the complex ideas that guided the artists, as well as the hopes and beliefs of those who first wore this jewelry in ancient times.
Read MoreNumber 1, 2020
Glencairn Museum’s eleventh annual World Nativities exhibition presents dozens of three-dimensional Nativity scenes collected from many different cultures and communities around the globe. The goal of the exhibition is to show the universal appeal of the Nativity story, and how individuals around the world seek to give it relevance by relating it to their own spiritual, intellectual, cultural, or regional environments.
Read MoreNumber 12, 2019
How do you celebrate Christmas in a 20th-century castle? Glencairn Museum offers a 45-minute “Christmas in the Castle” guided tour that allows visitors to journey back through time to explore Christmas traditions observed by the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn family when they lived at Glencairn. In this issue of Glencairn Museum News, our readers will be able to preview some of the highlights of this year’s tour.
Read MoreNumber 11, 2019
This holiday season the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, has loaned an antique Moravian Christmas “putz” (Nativity scene) made by folk artist Jennie Trein (1879-1977) to Glencairn’s World Nativities exhibition.
Read MoreNumber 10, 2019
On Sunday, October 5, 1919, a formal dedication service was held in Bryn Athyn Cathedral. It took place during the tenth assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian Christian), giving members of the church from around the globe the opportunity to attend. More than 2,000 people took part in three separate services during the day: a morning dedication service (attendance 900), an afternoon Holy Supper service (attendance 500), and an evening "service of praise" (attendance 720). Photographs and other documentation of this remarkable day are preserved at the Bryn Athyn Historic District Archives at Glencairn Museum and the Academy of the New Church Archives at Bryn Athyn College.
Read MoreNumber 9, 2019
Relatively little is known about Frank Jeck (1884-1965), a woodcarver who emigrated from Hungary in 1903 and made his home in Philadelphia. We will explore five remarkable examples of his craftsmanship in two consecutive issues of Glencairn Museum News. In part two we will explore four medallions on the first floor stairway and two inglenook benches.
Read MoreNumber 8, 2019
Relatively little is known about Frank Jeck (1884-1965), a woodcarver who emigrated from Hungary in 1903 and made his home in Philadelphia. We will explore five remarkable examples of his craftsmanship in two consecutive issues of Glencairn Museum News. In part one we will look at three of them: a Bible cabinet, infant’s crib, and master bed.
Read MoreNumber 7, 2019
On November 11, 1965, the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn family received a special visitor at Glencairn, their castle-like home in Bryn Athyn: James Rorimer—medieval art historian, former “Monuments Man,” and then-director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Read MoreNumber 6, 2019
Don't panic if you hear that a number of ferocious-looking lions recently left Bryn Athyn and made a cross-country journey to the West Coast. From May 14 to August 18, 2019, two of Glencairn’s medieval “lion” capitals are on loan to the J. Paul Getty Museum’s new exhibition, Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World.
Read MoreNumber 5, 2019
In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner, Associate Curator in the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania), explores art and artifacts in Glencairn’s Egyptian Gallery that were made to prepare the deceased for a happy afterlife.