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Charterhouse in London, once a religious house, school, Tudor mansion and now an almshouse, has partly opened to the public for the fi rst time in its 660 years (right). A new museum created with the Museum of London tells the story of the (for many) mysterious building near the Barbican and the role it played in key moments of history. Founded in 1371 as a Carthusian monastery, Elizabeth I convened the Privy Council there before her coronation in 1558, and James I also stayed at the Charterhouse prior to his coronation in 1603.Arts News The latest heritage news and views. Compiled by Simon TaitCharterhouse museum opensAn export stop has been put on Queen Victoria’s coronet, valued at £5m plus £1m VAT. The bar put on the sale abroad by Culture Minister Matt Hancock gives British collections until December 27 to match the price. The coronet with sapphires and diamonds, designed by Prince Albert as a wedding present, was made by the goldsmith Joseph Kitching using mostly stones given to Victoria by her uncle William IV. It was one of the most important of the Queen’s personal crown jewels; it was later given by George V to his daughter, Princess Mary, on her marriage to Viscount Lascelles in 1922.Above: Queen Victoria's coronetThe reopening of the Ferens Art Gallery in January after a £4.5m facelift will open the curtain on Hull’s year as the UK City of Culture 2017.Meanwhile, Perth in central Scotland is building its bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 around its current plan to have the Stone of Scone, the ancient coronation stone of the kings of Scotland, displayed in the city. The bid would build on this, along with themes of river connections and light. The city joins Paisley, Stoke and Coventry as candidates to succeed Hull. The formal entries will be announced in 2017.Export stop placed on Victoria coronetHull gears up for 2017, while Perth among the CofC 2021 hopefulsThe Bank of England has opened a new gallery in its museum devoted to banknotes from the Ming Dynasty, and including famous forgeries. The Bank has waged a constant battle to defeat the makers of counterfeit notes, with complex watermarks and tiny secret codes – in the 18th century, forging notes carried the death Bank museum reveals a history of forgeriespenalty. Included in the exhibition are notes made by concentration camp prisoners with which the Nazis intended to fl ood Britain and bust the wartime economy, and a less than convincing £50 note that started life as a white fi ver and was discovered when it was used to buy a cow at a country fair in 1850.Below: Fake £50 note from 1800sTate acquires its earliest painting by a female artistTate has acquired Joan Carlile’s Portrait of an Unknown Lady, painted in the 1650s and the earliest work in its collection by a woman. Carlile (1606–1679) was one of the fi rst women known to have made a living as a portrait painter, but few works attributed to her have survived. Carlile was the wife of a poet, dramatist and courtier Lodowick Carlile and she is recorded has having set up her studio in Covent Garden, the heart of the artistic community in the mid-17th century. The artwork was bought from dealer Bendor Grosvenor for £35,000. Previously attributed to a male artist, Grosvenor had bought it for under £5,000 at auction in 2014 with a hunch that it was in fact by Carlile.Although the subject of the portrait is offi cially unknown, the pose and elegant white satin dress appear in two of her other known portraits. Above: Joan Carlile, Portrait of an Unkown Lady, c1650© Tate; © Bank of England; © Charterhouse Foundation; Victoria’s coronet © Arts Council England.ARTS NEWSwww.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2016 11