Number 10, 2016

Perhaps the most frequently repeated motif in Glencairn is the grouping of ram, ewe, and lambs, symbolizing the importance of family. This issue of Glencairn Museum News explores the representation of sheep and lambs in the interior and exterior decoration of Glencairn.

Number 9, 2016

In this essay Eva Miller, PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, considers the five Assyrian reliefs in Glencairn’s Ancient Near East gallery. Collected by Raymond Pitcairn during the 1920s, these reliefs are “an exceptionally well-chosen group, representing diverse aspects of the religion, ideology, and artistry of the Assyrian Empire and typifying the development of the genre over time.” Miller examines the meaning of the images in these reliefs and how they have been received in both ancient and modern times. 

Number 8, 2016

Many first-time visitors to Glencairn Museum experience the building’s dramatic exterior before ever venturing inside. Glencairn’s grounds and gardens, together with those of Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Cairnwood Estate, are a favorite strolling destination for local residents. On Glencairn’s southwest corner, a graceful portico leads from the expansive lawn and carefully tended gardens to a magnificent cloister. This issue of Glencairn Museum News explores the cloister and the inspirations behind its design—including the capitals of the arcade with twelve species of birds, the twin-arched window providing a view toward the valley, and the special bench featuring a ram and ewe, carved from granite for Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn.

Number 7, 2016

Glencairn Museum’s large book of plainchant (75cm tall) was made in 16th-century Spain, most likely for the monastic Order of Calatrava. Like a modern hymnal, it contains the music needed for religious services, including 116 hymns as well as antiphons, responsories, and other music.

Number 6, 2016

Recently Glencairn Museum News interviewed Jens Langlotz, Master Stone Carver at Bryn Athyn Cathedral, about the history of stone carving in Bryn Athyn and about ongoing preservation efforts at the Cathedral and Glencairn. Then we climbed the scaffold above the Cathedral’s south entry to watch Jens and his assistant, Grayson Zuber, in action as they replaced several badly worn limestone finials with exact copies.

Number 4, 2016

The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the official incorporation of Bryn Athyn as a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  A Hill of Unity: The Founding of Bryn Athyn Borough (Friday, April 15 - Sunday, October 16, 2016) presents artifacts, maps, photographs and documents illustrating the early development of this community, leading up to the year of incorporation in 1916. 

Number 3, 2016

In 1982, as Glencairn was in the process of being transformed from a family home into a museum, an unusual work of ancient art was discovered in one of the family bedrooms—being used as a doorstop! In this essay, David and Irene Romano discuss Glencairn’s Syro-Hittite siren cauldron attachment and compare it to other known examples from the ancient Greek and Near Eastern worlds.