A PIECE of 18th Century history is to be preserved for the North-East thanks to 21st Century technology.

Northumbria University is helping to create a replica of a rare bust of Salomon Veit after it was decided that the original, which has been passed down through generations of the Veit-Wilson family, should be given to Berlin's Jewish Museum. The bust, by German sculptor JG Schadow, is one of only three in the world, the other two in Australia and the Berlin National Gallery.

Salomon Veit, who lived from 1751 to 1827, was a partner in the family's Veit Brothers merchant bank and one of the most prominent Jews in Berlin in the 18th Century.

The bust was passed down to his great, great, great, great, great grandson, Professor John Veit-Wilson, emeritus professor in social policy at Northumbria University.

He said: "It's only right that the bust should have gone to the museum where it can be truly appreciated, but I'm extremely grateful to Northumbria University for helping us to preserve the memory of my ancestor."

Richard Gale, of Teesside University, made a high resolution scan of the bust, which was used by Phil Hackney, of Northumbria University, to produce a replica. Mr Hackney said: "The centre is mainly called upon to produce prototypes and models for industry. This is the first time we've ever had such an interesting and ancient artefact."