Mid and East Antrim gets £10k for portraits and improvements in its museums

Mid Antrim Museum in Ballymena applied to the Northern Ireland Museums Council for funds for the purchase of two oil portraits – William and James Raphael at a cost of £1,000.

The portraits were painted in Philadelphia in the 1840s when the brothers travelled to the United States in search of a new market for the family firm’s linen tableware which was manufactured at Cullybackey Road in Ballymena.

The council’s museum collection already features a silver table centrepiece that was presented to factory owner John Raphael by the people of Ballymena.

Carrickfergus Museum was also awarded £9,400 from the Northern Ireland Museums Council’s Access and Inclusion Fund.

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