A LONG-LOST treasure with links to Barrhead dating back more than a century has turned up on the other side of the world.

The five-inch bronze plaque, thought to have been commissioned by Barrhead Art Club, was discovered in a charity shop in Timaru, New Zealand...more than 11,000 miles away.

An inscription on the relic reads ‘Barrhead Art Club, 1913,’ along with the name ‘Jean P. Thompson.’

Now a plea for help has been issued in the hope that Jean’s relatives can be traced.

Barrhead News:

Archie Brock, secretary of Barrhead Artists, which was formed in 1993, said: “A message came in from a man named Colin Higgins to tell us about a plaque he had bought from an opportunity shop – or, as we would call it, a charity shop – in New Zealand.

“He asked if we could give him any information about it, to help track down whoever it belonged to.

“It just so happened that, back in 2000, Barrhead Artists had an exhibition where the club was presented with a few items from the old Barrhead Art Club. These included another of these plaques, very similar to the one that Mr Higgins found, with the name ‘John Corbett’ and the date of 1907.

“There may well be people still living in Barrhead who knew Jean Thompson or John Corbett, which would be really fascinating.

“It would be great if anyone could shed some light on the background of either of these two people.”

Archie believes both the plaque found by Mr Higgins and the one gifted to the club in 2000 were awarded to the member with the best exhibit at the club’s annual exhibitions back in the early 1900s.

He added: “Another item that was handed to us back in 2000 was a copy of a catalogue from an exhibition that was held in 1932. In that catalogue, the name ‘Miss Thompson’ was listed, so we were wondering if this could have been the same person who was awarded the plaque.

“Although there are 19 years between the two dates of 1913 and 1932, it is quite possible this Miss Thompson was the same person or perhaps they were two members of the same family.”

If you can shed any light on the mystery, call the Barrhead News on 0141 435 8826.

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