Animal art show with jewellery prize at Blickling Hall

n art exhibition running at Blickling Hall has a hidden bonus with a treasure which will lead the winner to a £4,000 piece of jewellery. Pictured: Unicorn by Kate Leiper. Picture: Supplied (Image: Supplied)

A Michaelmas Pageant at the National Trust property is a showcase of paintings and sketches by artist Kate Leiper.

It depicts a pageant of Tudor animals in an imagined event of 1514 that tells of the return of Anne Boleyn - who is said to have lived at the hall and is reputed to haunt it each year on the anniversary of her beheading.

The procession of all kinds of birds and beasts is taken from the imagined diary entries of a 10-year-old George Boleyn, who describes the pageant in detail.

From this Kate Leiper created a series of original paintings which show the procession of finches and swans, geese and ducks, deer and rabbits, a white bull and other beasts. But it is no ordinary exhibition. Letters hidden in the paintings form a treasure hunt for visitors. Once gathered and rearranged, they will reveal an intriguing twist, a hidden secret, and the discovery of just who or what stole the jewelled pendant in 1514.

The winner's prize is a pendant of gold, garnet, diamond and South-sea pearl, valued at £4,000.

The display of 16 paintings will be complemented by a suite of jewellery created by Alison Bradley, a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

Alison's Enigma of Blickling has been inspired by the contents and history found in the Hall, and the results range from a diamond-dusted golden cuff to solid silver cufflinks and pins depicting the Park White Bull.

Paintings and jewels will be shown in the hall's Long Gallery, Blickling Hall until October 31.

? Find out more at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling and www.thereddotgallery.com