Welcome to our new Substack newsletter! We’re excited to kick things off with Take this Token, a new project foregrounding the history of the Foundling Hospital tokens.
What are the tokens?
The tokens are among the most cherished artefacts in our collection. When the Foundling Hospital was first set up in the eighteenth century, the administration would ask parents to leave an object behind with their child. These objects ranged from jewellery and amulets to coins and scraps of fabric.
Many of our visitors are moved by the tokens and the stories that each object tells about the bonds between parent and child. However, the tokens primarily served an administrative purpose, enabling the Hospital to confirm the parent's identity should they ever return to claim their child. Unbeknownst to the parents, their little one would likely never see the token.
About Take This Token
Take this Token explores the Museum’s unique collection and the tales these objects tell about the Foundling Hospital, Georgian society and the care system as a whole. The project includes:
An eight-part podcast series spotlighting the tokens. Each episode includes interviews with artists, historians and care-experienced young people shedding light on the context surrounding these precious objects.
An in-person display in the Museum, opening on Tuesday 25 April, showcasing creative responses to the tokens by artists working today.
An online exhibition exploring the tokens and Georgian London.
A Smartify tour of an installation by artist John Aldus in Bloomsbury, London
This newsletter, sent out each week. Each issue will include content to complement the podcast including a slice of the Hospital’s history and art on display at the Museum.
Take this Token is supported by the Woven Foundation, previously the Artisa Foundation, and the Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation.
The first episode of the podcast goes live next week! Sign up for this newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to be the first to hear about it.