Leeds museum history project sees brollies saved for rainy day

Some umbrellas were used to shelter from the elements with others used to make a bold fashion statement

Hundreds of umbrellas spanning the decades are being saved for a rainy day thanks to a conservation project.

More than 230 umbrellas and parasols are being documented and catalogued by students working with curators from Leeds Museums and Galleries.

They include a pink silk parasol from the 1850s and a black umbrella with a hand-carved Indian ivory handle.

Assistant curator Vanessa Jones said by cataloguing them it showed how they had changed with time and fashion.

Leeds Museums and Galleries said preserving the items meant they could be enjoyed by future generations

The huge collection is kept at the Leeds Discovery Centre - a storage facility for Leeds Museums and Galleries which contains more than a million items of historical interest.

The black umbrella in the collection was crafted by JJ Leggat in Harrogate and dates from around 1865.

It was donated by a member of the public whose great aunt was given it by the maker.

This paper and bamboo parasol is thought to have been brought from Hong Kong

Among the more colourful examples is a paper and bamboo parasol thought to have been brought from Hong Kong in the 1920s.

With a bamboo handle and a frame of bamboo strips, it is decorated with a floral design in red, white, yellow and black.

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Ms Jones said: "It's amazing to see the full scope of this remarkable collection, accumulated over so many years and with such an astonishing breadth of designs, materials and colours.

"Umbrellas and parasols do obviously have a practical, functional purpose in keeping the sun and rain off, but what we can clearly see from our collection is that they have also very much been used over the centuries as a status symbol, a fashion statement or as a very beautiful accessory."

Once the collection has been fully catalogued, key examples will be photographed and featured online before further work to showcase them digitally takes place.