Explore collections

Geology Collection

There is a good selection of Cornish minerals and fossils.

Subjects

Geology

Archaeology Collection

This collection contains a selection of artefacts from the local area including material from Nanstallon and masonry from Bodmin Priory and Friary.

Subjects

Archaeology

Agriculture Collection

There is a collection of hand tools, as well as posters, hand bills about farming activities, events and animal diseases.

Subjects

Agriculture

Biology Collection

There is a small collection of natural history specimens, including a Cornish Chough.

Subjects

Biology

Costume and Textile Collection

The costume collection holds some civic regalia and dress specifically related to St Lawrence Hospital.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Photographic Collection

There is a good collection of photographs of local and topographical interest, including photographs relating to the police and fire service.

Subjects

Photographic equipment

Archives Collection

The archive collection includes: posters and hand bills about farming activities, events and animal diseases; and a wide range of material including books, pamphlets and photographs of local personalities.

Subjects

Archives

Social History Collection

The social history material includes: items of domestic life associated with the Cornish kitchen; trade tools, especially relating to the blacksmith and wheelwright; a good collection of artefacts and photographs related to the police service; a late 18th century fire engine and a selection of photographs related to the fire service; First and Second World War memorabilia; and a few items relating to the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry.

Subjects

Social History

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collection was initially brought together by private individuals who were concerned that the history and heritage of the stationary steam engines that once powered the textile mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire was disappearing as the industry declined. A Society was established in 1966 and this was subsequently formally re-constituted as a company and charity in 1973, to whom all the assets were transferred. A museum was established in Bolton to display the collection of engines and other material as they were removed from mills when they were demolished or closed. This museum was itself demolished in 1991 as part of a wider site redevelopment but re-established in new premises in 1993.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2019

Licence: CC BY-NC

The main collection consists of 27 steam and two internal-combustion engines manufactured between approximately 1840 and 1960. The collection demonstrates the development of the steam engine during the relevant period and includes examples of beam, horizontal, vertical, inverted vertical and diagonal engine types. All engines can be demonstrated working in steam from a boiler.

A ‘non-dead-centre’ inverted vertical engine built by John Musgrave and Sons of Bolton is believed to be a unique example of this type of engine anywhere in the world. A twin rotative beam engine is similarly considered to be rare, possibly unique, and a ‘McNaughted’ compound beam engine is the only working example in England.

The collection also includes approximately 2000 photographs, prints, negatives and slides; approximately 1000 engineering drawings; approximately 1800 books, catalogues, reports and other printed ephemera and 400 other items of plant and equipment (eg makers plates, instrumentation, models, tools and accessories).

Virtually all items have been either used or manufactured in the textile districts in the north of England, particularly Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2019

Licence: CC BY-NC

Photography Collection

Local significance. Small collection of local photographs.

Subjects

Photographs

Agriculture

Land drainage, agricultural and horticultural material from the district.

Subjects

Agriculture; Horticulture

Agriculture Collection

Local significance. Land drainage, agricultural and horticultural material from the district.

Subjects

Agriculture; HorticultureDrainage engineering

Archaeology Collection

Local excavation finds, including leather. Local significance.

Subjects

Leather; Archaeology; Archaeological objects

Biology Collection

Local significance. A small collection of biological objects.

Subjects

Natural sciences; Biology

Costume and Textiles Collection

Local significance. A small collection of costume and textile objects.

Subjects

Textiles; Costume

Decorative and Applied Arts Collection

Local significance. Some material associated with period rooms.

Subjects

Decorative arts; Architecture; Crafts

Fine Art Collection

Local significance. Some local topographical works and maritime related paintings.

Subjects

Fine Arts; Paintings

Geology Collection

Small non-local collection of geology and palaeontology.

Subjects

Geology; Palaeontology

Maritime Collection

Model vessels, oil paintings, photographs and shipping blueprints.

Subjects

Models (miniatures); Maritime transport; Photographs; Paintings; Shipping

Numismatics Collection

Local numismatics and token collection. Local significance.

Subjects

Numismatics; Tokens

Science and Industry Collection

Local significance. Material associated with local crafts or manufacturing industry.

Subjects

Manufacturing industry; Trade (practice); Crafts; Industry

Social History Collection

Local significance. Local objects from society, social sciences.

Subjects

Domestic life; Social history

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The society’s museum holds approximately 370 ancient Egyptian objects. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; canopic jars; coffins; faience figures; flints; funerary cones; glass vessels; metal figures; animal remains (mummies); human remains (mummies); ostraca; papyri; pottery; ‘Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’ figures; relief sculpture; scarabs; shabtis; cosmetic palettes; stelae (wood); stone figures; stone vessels; textile/leather; tomb models; tools/weapons; wooden figures. The collection also includes a cast of the Rosetta Stone, a set of original Belzoni prints, glass half-plate negatives of Egyptian monuments from c. 1900, and a cast of a relief of Thutmose III. Objects are known to have come from the following location in Egypt: Aswan.

Subjects

Third Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC); Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Roman Period (30 BC); Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC); Archaeological objects; Egyptology; Late Period (664-332 BC); New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC); Predynastic Period (5300-3000 BC)

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Fine Art

The painting collection has works covering the period 1400-1900 from England, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy. The Spanish material, 80 works, much from the de Quinto collection is strong in the Madrid School e.g. Carreno, Camillo and Pereda. Other centres are Seville and Toledo and have works from the 15th -18th centuries. Significant are ‘The tears of St Peter’ by El Greco and 2 by Goya ‘Portarit of Melendez Valdes’ and ‘ Prison scene’. French pieces, about 500 include landscapes of 17th – 19th centuries by Allegrin, Boucher, Corot and Robert; 200 works of 1860s – 1870s including portraits by JD Court, seascapes by Baron Gudin, figure studies by Chaplin and genre by Adolphe Cals. A large group of Neo classical works including ‘Duchesse d’Angouleme’ by Baron Gros and studio portraits of Napoleon by Girodet. The Italian School has works from the main centres with the strongest from Naples with pieces by Fracanzano, Vaccaro, Mura, Solimena, and Giordano’ sketch ‘The triumph of Judith’ for the Treasury ceiling in the Certoas di San Martino in Naples. Portraits by Trevisani, landscapes by Canaletto, sketches by Giaquinto, Diziani and Tiepolo. High Rennaisance and Mannerism by Solario, Caprioli, Salvaiati and an early Renaissance work by Sassetta’s ‘Miracle of the Holy Sacrament’ of 1423-26. The drawings, watecolour and print colllection consists of about 3,000 works including some rare examples of French 18th century colour printing, good watercolours of local topography by Hearne, Turner and Girtin and a small (90 piece) collection of minatures, 30 illuminated manuscripts, a run of ‘Charivari’ from the 1840s and 50s with prints by Daumier.

Fine Art (Portraiture)

The Bowes Museum’s Fine Art collection contains nearly 1000 portraits including; sculptures, miniatures, oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, prints and metalwork. The collection includes examples of European portraiture from the seventeenth century through to the nineteenth century. The collection includes important works by Anne Vallayer-Coster, Anne-Louis Girodet, Francesco Trevisani, Francisco Jose de Goya, Francois-Joseph Kinsoen, Joshua Reynolds, Philippe de Champaigne and Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

Arms and Armour

The collection includes guns, edged weapons and a few pieces of armour.

Musical instruments

There is a collection of 70 musical instruments of which the most important is a series of early keyboard instruments by Haxby and Broadmood.

Numismatics

The collection includes coins and French commemorative medals dating from the Roman period to 19th century.

Archaeology (prehistory)

The Bowes Museum holds a large collection of prehistoric material relating principally to County Durham. Strengths include a large quantity of Mesolithic lithics from the immediate region and the Bronze Age hoard from Gilmonby. Lithics are the major element within this collection, with material coming principally from the local area.

Costume

The costume collection of 5,000 items has grown especially since 1950 and covers late 18th century – 1960s. It includes a group worn by Empress Eugenie in the 1850s and 60s, but is mainly English women’s, men’s and children’s garments worn and made in the North East , especially women’s dresses of the 1860s and 70s, haute couture including Paquin, Hartnell, Jacques Fath and Worth, and wedding dresses from 1800 to present with a Hartnell of 1928 with pearls and silver lace.

Archives

There are various library collections and an archive of note; a rare books library of local interst including newspapers collected by John Bowes, now has run of the Teesdale Mercury from 1912; periodical runs of The Gentleman’s Magazine, Country Life and Archaeologia; records of Teesdale Local history societies, Parish chest of Mickelton containing 16th and 17th century documents on the lawsuit between Sir Talbot Bowes and tenants, printed books by William Hutchinson, a Durham historian and native of Teesdale, William Shaw’s account book for his academy in Bowes the model for Dickens ‘Dotheboys Hall’; a French library of Josephine Bowes collection of French Literature, plays, revolutionary pamphlets and treatises, printed books owned by Louis XV, Madame Pompadour, the duc d’Orleans, Charles X and Pope Clement XI. The archive also contains extensive documentation of the Bowes purchases of 15,000 objects, furnishings of their houses, day to day social life, dress and furniture bills and archives of the Theatre des Varietes where Josephine performed on stage. 2,000 personal letters of John Bowes, Josephine’s letters commissioning Galle and others, largely uncatalogued.

Photography

Mainly from the Teesdale area including a large collection of local historic photographs in particular by Elijah Yeoman for his early landscapes, Rev. James Pattison and other anonymous photographers.

Glass

The glass collection of 700 pieces ranges from 17th – 19th centuries including exhibition pieces and a commissioned cabaret set from Emile Galle in 1871. There is a small collection of 16th and 17th century stained glass from Switzerland, Holland and Germany and domestic glass mainly Dutch and Bohemian and German; a set of amber and clear table glass engraved with the Bowes coat of arms and horses attributed to Karl Pfohl, a group by Salviati of Venice, a group of 18th century English drinking glasses presented by Sir William Burrell and a collection of English and Irish cut glass bequeathed by Mrs Norman Field in 1973.

Clocks

The clocks, 17th- 19th century, were collected more for design and movement than technical interest and include automatons especially the Silver swan, known since 1774 when it was in the museum of James Cox, a London goldsmith; a group of table clocks includes a lion clock from Augsburg, an 18th century celestial globe, a bracket clock in vernis martin, an imitation laquer clock and watches from the Napoleonic and Second empire period; a musical clock by P J van Bockstael of Rexpoede, another one by James Newton of London of 1754.

Natural Science

There are some geological specimens with a Bowes provenance and of local origin, but not a systematic collection. The mounted birds,190 cased specimens some by local taxidermists, British birds eggs, c.650, Molluscs about 500 includes British common water worn marine shells and insects, c 1000 are contained in 5 display boxes in a period room. All acquired at the beginning of the 20th century and there is no intention for active collecting.

Archaeology

The collection is in 2 parts; the founders collected Roman metalwork and glass as fashion dictated in the 1850s-70s, but these are not the basis of the main collection which is local and mainly from excavations including finds and archive from Barnard Castle, Piercebridge and Binchester Roman forts. Other material is from minor excavations, especially Teesdale, local donations and the Museum holds collections from across Co Durham and is a recognised store. Specific mention should be made of a late Bronze Age hoard from near Bowes, two Bronze Age swords and a gold hair ornament from Startforth, a group of Roman inscriptions including 2 altars dedicated to Vinotonus found on Scargill Moor and a building inscription from Greta Bridge.

Wood carvings

The collection of about 700 architectural and decorative carvings were mostly purchased through the Bowes’ dealers and attendance at the International Exhibitions of London and Paris, reflecting a fashion for collecting in the 1850s also evident in the South Kensington Museum of the time, when collections were made with the specific intention of providing samples for craftsmen to copy. Small domestic items of woodcarving, such as tobacco rasps, nutcrackers and boxes were also collected. Recent research has revealed 2 previously unrecorded marquetry panels by the late 18th century Italian cabinet maker Francesco Abbati and a rare Renaissance panel depicting the liberal arts.

Social History

The collections are essentially local history and include material already described under photography, archaeology and archives, but also include coins and French commemorative medals dating from the Roman period to 19th century about 200 in total; arms and weapons including guns, edged weapons and a few pieces of armour also about 200 in total.

Toys and Dolls

The toy collection includes cards and counter games collected by the Bowes and later dolls houses(19), dolls(200) and toys(450) including a Bing clockwork car ‘The Spider’. There are two 18th century dolls and a rare swimming doll; 19 dolls houses, some of exceptional quality e.g. a German kitchen of c.1700; also a wooden train owned by the son of Edward Pease one of the founders of the Stockton -Darlington Railway of 1825, probably the first toy train; mechanical toys including model engines, ships and a working model of Crow’s Fairground made in the 1950s.

Textiles

The textile collection is important as the tapestries numbering 176 is one of the largest in Britain covering 14th- 18th centuries and from all the major European centres in France, the Low Countries, England, Germany and Italy. 56 large scale works including 2 sets from 17th century Paris (Pre-Goblein) of 1650 4 pieces ‘Dido and Aeneas’ and 5 pieces of ‘Cupid and Pysche’ of 1670-90 from Beauvais; a fragment with coat of arms of ‘The Triumph of Time’ of 1507 from Brussels; 2 panels after prints by Durer; a full piece showing ‘Apollo and the Muses’ attributed to the Paris workshop of Raphael de La Planche woven for the Grimaldi family of Monaco c.1650. A large collection of seat covers form a unique collection of 17th and 18th century French upholstery. Josephine Bowes collected 700 examples. Canvas-work includes a large Elizabethan hanging and valances, a rare 18th century table carpet, 17th century panels e.g. ‘The Judgment of Solomon’ after B a Bolswert after Rubens. The 830 embroideries range from 14th -19th century and include French 17th century bed valances and gaming purses, English 18th century needle paintings by Mary Linwood; English 17th century; ecclesiastical embroideries and vestments include 14th century German orphreys and fine 18th century chasubles and English samplers. There are 200 pieces of lace and a small collection of 130 printed and woven textiles such as the French brocaded satin woven for the Tuileries in 1811-13. The Northern quilt and bedcovers collection is 125 and growing. 30 European and Oriental carpets mainly furnish the period rooms, and there are 19th century Barnard Castle carpets.

Ethnography

There is no discrete ethnographic collection as such, but material is scattered throughout the main collections; it includes ivories, metalwork, pottery and textiles from West Africa, the Arabian Gulf, Central Asia, South East Asia, Indian subcontinent, Latin America, Balkans and Mesopotamia. A small group survives from the George Brown collection (qv Hancock Museum) as associated with Barnard Castle. Chelmsford and Essex Museum transferred 61 items , mainly South African and African ,one Naga item in 1961. The Museum Ethnographers Group identified 1,000 objects in a survey of the British Isles in 1986; these included 800 or so oriental ceramics, North American stone implements, 41 Latin American items some Yaqui pots and a small number of mid European and oriental items from the Paris Exhibition of 1867.

Furniture

The furniture collection is 500 pieces in total. 17th and 18th century French used to furnish the Bowes houses, contemporary 1850s purchased from Monbro fils aine, Monbro bills, and furniture with original upholstery; European furniture from Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Spain including 18th century beadwork pelmet from Brunswick and 16th century choir stalls from a monastic church in Schaffhausen, Switzerland; English furniture and panelled rococo interiors from Chesterfield House, London with ornament by Nicholas Pineau, palladian panelling from Gilling Castle made by Matthew Ward and a chimney piece from Lanercost Priory with ornament based on a design by Vredeman de Vries, a botanical cabinet of Mary Eleanor Bowes, a bookcase by William Hallett, early hutch table of 1530 with carved armorials of Sir William Calverley and Elizabeth Middleton, early 18th century red walnut seat furniture, large mahogany bookcase of 1800-10 by Thomas Hope.

Ceramics

The collection of ceramics is about 4,500 items with the full range of European wares from 1500 -1870. The collection comprises those of Josephine Bowes, Susan Davidson and Enid Goldblait and has Italian Maiolica ( 200 pieces) with a rare potter’s sample plate of 1577; French and German Faience (1,000 pieces-the best outside the V&A); Dutch delftware (500 pieces – again the best outside the V&A); French soft paste porcelain from St Cloud, Mennecy, Vincennes, and Sevres (1,000 pieces) including a teapot of 1758 decorated with a peacock on the rose Pompadour ground, 6 plates from the Marquis de Semonville’s ambassadorial service of 1792; Paris wares from the short-lived factiories of the Revolutionary period and an early documentary cabaret set from Limoges; German porcelain from Meissen, Frankenthal and Ludwigsburg and porcelain from Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Scandinavia, Russia, Switzerland and Britain. Also some exhibition pieces from the Paris and London Exhibitions of 1867 and 1871. The Enid Goldblait collection added 500 pieces of European wares in 1988. There is a small but significant collection of 500 English ceramics from 1700-1850, some rare, and 1,000 pieces of Oriental export porcelain from Susan Davidson, Bowes’ cousin, in 1878.

Sculpture

The collection of about 150 pieces is diverse and covers 15th century to 1870s including carvings in wood, alabaster, plaster, bronze and marble in particular a parcel gilt statuette of St Sebastian of 1523, a marble relief of Mars by Antonio Lombardo of early 16th century, marble portrait bust of a young girl by Jean-Antoine Houdon of 1777, a plaster group of the Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester by Jean-Pierre Dantan of 1834, an undated bronze of Mephistopheles by Emile Hebert and a silvered copper figure of Sappo by James Pradier of 1848. There are several 15th century wood carvings, 3 pieces of 15th century Nottingham School alabasters, a group of European ivories from several periods, 15th century stone ‘Passion and Resurrection of Christ’ from Monk Hesleden Church, Castel Eden, Co. Durham, a terracotta group by Claude Michel called Clodion of 1783 and a mid 17th century gilt-bronze fountain mask of a river god, one of several made for the Chateau de St Cloud, perhaps by Matin Desjardins, c 1650-60.

Metalwork

There is a small collection of European silver from 1600- 1850 of about 500 pieces and it ranges from a Jacobean spice box to important 19th century pieces. Most important is a collection of silver and silver gilt given ‘in lieu’ in 1982 from the estate of the 6th Marquess of Ormonde, some purchased in 1808-11 from Paul Storr, Benjaimin and James Smith, William Pitt, William Fountain and others; also Bowes family pieces including a wine goblet, Newcastle of c.1635, of Sir Talbot Bowes and a punch bowl of 1725, also Newcastle for George Bowes, 11 silver dinner plates, London 1699-1725 arms of George and Grizel Baillie, some French plate and a varied collection of Sheffield plate. Other work includes a collection of French ormolu furniture mounts, traditionally from the Tuileries and other Royal palaces sacked in 1871 Paris Commune, several pairs of ormolu fire-dogs or chenets depicting human figures, mythical animals or architectural motifs, a rare signed and dated ormolu plaque by Jean-Robert Mention of 1730 after ‘The Road to Calvary’ by Pierre Mignard in the Louvre. Objets d’art, 500 pieces, include jewellery, 2 documented jewelled snuff boxes, one of 1853 by Charles-Martial Bernard, and objects in iron and enamel, including locks, caskets, door-knockers, finials, a sundial and firebacks, one with the arms of the Dauphin.

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC

Fine Art Collection

The museum has a large and important fine art collection. Most notably, there is the remarkable Cottonian collection, comprising small groups of ceramics, bronzes and paintings, several hundred old master and English drawings and watercolours, and a substantial body of several thousand fine and rare prints. In addition, there is a library of some 2000 volumes. This is the major strength of the museum and the collection is designated for its pre-eminent importance. Alongside the Cottonian collection, there are other important groups of work. There are paintings and drawings by the Plymouth artist Benjamin Robert Haydon; drawings and prints by the Plymouth artist Samuel Prout (1783-1852); and material by Plymouth artist Sir Joshus Reynolds is a strength, containing memorabilia as well as art works. The greater part of the painting collection is English from the 18th to 20th centuries, although there are Italian, French, Dutch and English paintings from the 16th to 19th centuries. There is a bias towards artists from Plymouth and its locality, and many topographical views from the 17th century to the present. There are many marine paintings. There is good representation of the Newlyn School of Artists, including works by Stanhope A Forbes, J Noble Barlow, Norman Garstin, Walter Langley, Henry Tuke and R H Carter. Also the Camden Town Group, including works by Ginner, Gore, Gilman, Bevan, Pissaro and Drummond. 20th century West Country artists are strongly represented in the collections, with work of many of the artists residing in St Ives and elsewhere in the region, including Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton, Terry Frost and Patrick Heron. Watercolours and drawings are well represented in the collection, with the earlier works of 16th to 18th century date being mainly of continental origin. By far the largest single group is composed of 18th and 19th century English watercolours, with a small number of 20th century works principally of local origin. Although there are not many 18th century watercolours, there are a few important works by artists such as J M W Turner. There is a series of late 19th century English and French drawings by artists such as George Clausen, John Everett Millais, Sir E C Burne-Jones, Jena-Francios Millet, Jean Louis Forain and Edgar Degas. Local topographical watercolours are also held by artists such as Samuel Prout and Philip Mitchell. The later 20th century is represented by works by Claude Muncaster and John Piper. The collection of prints is extensive and important, comprising many fine and rare works from the 16th to 18th centuries, through to 19th century topographical engravings and 20th century works by some of the leading contemporary exponents of the art. They encompass a wide range of media from etchings, mezzotints, engravings and lithography, to examples of modern screen printing and photolithographic techniques, presenting a full history of the print. Aspects of the print collection are described with the Cottonian collection, though in addition to that collection, there is an important group of topographical views of Plymouth and the south west generally and a growing series of prints by contemporary British and other printmakers. There is a modest collection of sculpture and bronzes, the earlier material chiefly in the Cottonian collection, though later work by Jacob Epstein and Barbara Hepworth is held. There is a small, but attractive, group of largely 18th and 19th century miniatures including two by Richard Cosway. The Newlyn School collection Camden Town Group collection 20th century West Country artists. This is a truly remarkable collection of art, amassed by several generations of the Cotton family, though begun by Charles Rogers (1711-1784) in the 1740s who collected a substantial quantity of early prints and drawings. The collection was bequeathed to the City of Plymouth by William Cotton (1749-1863) of Ivybridge in 1863 and transferred to Plymouth Corporation in 1916 by an Act of Parliament. The collection comprises ceramics, bronzes, a library, paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints, and amounts to nearly 10,000 individual items. A unique aspect of the collection is its survival (albeit depleted by a 1799 auction) through three centuries of private owners and two periods on institutional ownership after the original collector. This fact, together with the survival of an archive of associated papers makes the collection as a whole a document of immense historic value. The print collection alone numbers over 6,000 items and is one of the finest existing collections representing many of the finest prits made in England, France, Italy and Germany between the 16th and 19th centuries. Highlights of the print collection include rare and important etchings by the German printmaker Albrecht Altdorfer. The prints are groups largely by school or subject and mounted in a series of large volumes. Paintings in the collection comprise important Italian, French, Dutch and English works from the 16th to 19th centuries. There is a very important group of old master and English drawings of the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, including examples of the Italian, Dutch, French and English schools, by artists such as Giorgio Vasari and Filippo Napoletano and many others. 18th century watercolours are represented by rare works by artists such as Paul Sandby. Bronzes in the collection are European and of 17th and 18th century date. Unusually, the art collection has associated with it an extensive archive of original letters, business and domestic account books, sale catalogues, wills, pedigrees, Custom House data and contemporary pamphlets and broadsheets, all giving an insight into the personalities and social world of those who created the Cottonian collection and their families. The papers cover the Townson, Rogers and Cotton families, many of which are of domestic interest. The museum holds a significant group of paintings and a number of documents and memorabilia relating to the Plymouth artist Sir Joshua Reynolds. These include: four family portraits; six other portraits; engraved works, both loose and in volume; various copies of the discourses; a small number of letters; his palette and painting stick; and a sitter book for 1755.

Subjects

Watercolours; Culture; Literature; Sculpture; Paintings; Fine Art; Prints; Drawings

Decorative and applied Art Collection

This collection includes one of the most comprehensive assemblages of Plymouth porcelain; silver; glass; and furniture. A notable aspect is the Carpenter bequest (1926), a large collection of ceramics. The ceramics collection contains some rare and important items. Most is of British origin, though there are a substantial number of Chinese ceramics, some Japanese and some continental pieces. It is strongest in 18th century material and especially hard paste porcelain of this date. The collection also includes many examples of soft paste porcelain manufacturers, important for comparative and contextual purposes with the Plymouth porcelain. Among the 19th century ceramics are important holdings of works of studio potters, notably Martin Brothers and Bernard Moore. Most numerous among the 20th century ceramics are collections of work by Freda Dorothy Doughty and the Royal Worcester Porcelain Manufacture. The metalwork collection is mainly composed of silver, though there is some pewter and some Sheffield Plate (the Hurdle bequest). Plymouth silver is the most important aspect. In the 18th century silversmiths were particularly numerous in Plymouth and the collection reflects this volume of production at the expense of 19th century work. There is a sizeable collection of church plate, most on loan to the museum from several Parochial Church Councils, which includes some fine examples of Plymouth silversmith’s work. Two individual pieces are noteworthy, the Eddystone Salt, late 17th century work of Plymouth silversmiths, and the Drake Cup, by a Zurich silversmith, c.1595. The non-Plymouth silver collection is a small mixed collection of 18th and 19th century pieced, principally tableware. The glass collection ranges in date from 18th to 20th centuries and in type from purely ornamental to functional, originating from elsewhere in Britain and the continent. There are a few enamel snuff and patch boxes. Plymouth was the first place to produce a true of hard-paste porcelain, in a factory established in 1768 by a local chemist, William Cookworthy. 18th century porcelains, especially those from Plymouth and elsewhere in Britain, are a strength of the collection. The museum has the largest existing and most representative group of Plymouth porcelain, which is highly significant in terms of ceramic history.

Subjects

Ceramics; Decorative and Applied Arts

Geology Collection

There is an extensive representative collection of Devon rocks; and a large and scientifically important collection of some 10,000 mineral specimens, especially those of Devon and Cornwall. The mineral material is one of the most important collections of South West minerals in Britain. The major collections are: Sir John St Aubyn (1758-1839); Col Sir William Serjeant (1857-1930); Rene Gallant (1906-1985); and Richard Barstow (1947-1982). The fossil collection is small, but includes some significant Quaternary material from local caves and fissures; local reef limestone fossils; and an ichthyosaur from the Dorset Lias.

Subjects

Geology

Archaeology Collection

Prehistoric material from excavations and surface finds in Devon and Cornwall is the main strength of the archaeology collection, and includes the collections of the antiquarians Rev S Baring Gould (1899); Francis Brent (1903); A L Lewis (1921); and Sir W Serjeant (1924). The museum holds one of the major collections of prehistoric artefacts from Dartmoor. Late bronze age, iron age and Roman material from Mount Batten and Stamford Hill, Plymouth, collected in the first half of the 20th century has been supplemented by more recent research excavations, 1982-85. From the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD, the Mount Batten peninsula was a focus of trade, both coastal and international. Medieval and post-medieval material is well represented from urban sites in Plymouth. Imported pottery of these periods from waterfront sites comprise a significant aspect of the collection. Finds from Plympton Priory; Okehampton Castle; Lydford; and Buckland Abbey are also held. Foreign archaeology is represented by a small collection of ancient Greek ceramics; bronze and stone implements from prehistoric Europe; glassware and ceramics from Cyprus; and some Egyptian material from the excavations of Sir W M Flinders Petrie.

Subjects

Archaeology

Biology Collection

The most important collection of lepidoptera in the museum is the George Carter Bignell (1826-1910) material. Bignell, a native of Devon, collected not only the adult of each species, but also the egg, larva and pupa, making the collection a particularly valuable source of reference material. The Keys collection of British coleoptera (beetles) is magnificent in its size and comprehensiveness. James H Keys (1855-1941), a Plymothian, made many contributions to the understanding of beetles. George Carter Bignell, having amassed his collection of butterflies and moths, turned his attention to wasps, bees and ants (Hymenoptera) and went to contribute significantly to this science. Within 15 years he had collected 51 species new to England and 19 which were totally new discoveries. Outside the British Museum (Natural History) the Bignell collection of parasitic Hymenoptera is one of the most important reference collections in the UK. Plymouth has been associated with many outstanding naturalists, some of whose collections are in the city museum. The biology collection includes zoology and botany. In the field of zoology, the museum has some 800 specimens of British birds, both mounted and cabinet skin specimens, representing 229 species on the British list. Many are specimens from the following collections: Elliot collection (19th century); Collier collection (1870-1905); Penrose collection (prior to 1914); Perks collection (1880-1890); Hingston collection (1897); Brooking Rowe collection (1909); and the Chichester collection (1933). There are three major collections of butterflies and moths (lepidoptera). The Bignell collection is the most significant, and a strength. The Keys collection of British beetles (coleoptera) is of national importance and another strength of the collection. The collection of bees, wasps, ants, etc (hyneboptera) represents another highly significant strength of the museum. The museum also had herbaria representing some 1514 species of British flowering plants (angiosperms). There are two particularly notable collections, the T B Fisher (1817-1899) herbarium and the Thomas Bruce Flower herbarium of plants from Somerset and Wiltshire collected during the mid 19th century. There are also mosses and liverworts (bryophytes); and lichens collected throughout Devon.

Subjects

Natural Sciences; Insects; Biology

Ancient Egyptian Collection

The museum holds 1,500 ancient Egyptian objects which are part of the Archaeology collection. Classes of objects represented in the collection include: amulets; canopic jars; coins; flints; glass vessels; jewellery; metal figures; animal remains (mummies); human remains (mummies); pottery; relief sculpture; scarabs/sealings; shabtis; cosmetic palettes; stone vessels; textiles/leather; toilet articles; tools/weapons; wooden figures. Objects are known to have come from the following locations in Egypt (with the name of the excavator/sponsor and year of excavation given where possible): Badari (Brunton – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1922-1925); Beit Allam; Fayum; Gurob (possibly Loat – Egyptian Research Account, 1903-1904); Luxor; Antaeopolis (Petrie et al. – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1923-1924); Tarkhan (Petrie et al. – British School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1911-1913); Thebes(?).

Subjects

Antiquities; Ancient civilizations; Antiquity; Archaeological sites; Archaeological objects; Egyptology; Archaeological excavations

Arms and Armour Collection

There are guns and other finds from the 16th century Cattewater wreck from Plymouth Sound.

Subjects

Arms and armour

Social History Collection

Much of the collection has a Plymouth or south western provenance, and includes items dating from the last 400 years, but is not comprehensive in any one area, other than the collection of domestic equipment, particularly skillets, given by Mrs Eckett Fielden (1959); the Harmsworth collection of ship models.

Subjects

Social History

Ethnography Collection

There are artefacts from Oceania, Africa, America and Asia. The Carwithen (1899) and Brent (1903) collections concentrate on Fiji and Polynesia; and the Dauncey collection (1909, 1917, 1923) from New Guinea comprise the bulk of the Oceanic collection. The New Guinea collection is particularly comprehensive. Miss Gertrude Benham (1934), a pioneering explorer, bequeathed much of the African and Indian material.

Subjects

Ethnography

Medals Collection

Most medals known to have been issued to commemorate local events are represented in the collection; others are not local. There are several outstanding non-local items presented by local people, notably a gold medal of the Royal Society, 1777; and another of Pope Pius VII, 1815.

Subjects

Medals

Costume and Textile Collection

Though small, this collection includes some items of special quality and interest. It consists largely of female clothing of the 19th and early 20th centuries, although there are some fine and important 18th century items. The most numerous group is of infant’s clothes, especially Christening gowns. There is little occupational or working clothing and very little male costume. The textile collection comprises lace and some household linen. Costume accessories are represented by fans, jewellery, purses, etc. mainly from the 19th century.

Subjects

Costume and Textile

Numismatics Collection

This collection is strong, with an almost complete series of British copper coins; there are over 260 English silver coins from Ethelred II to George VI, of which there are examples of Anglo-Saxon silver pennies from the Devon mints (Exeter, Totnes, Lydford and Barnstaple); some English gold coins; 17th and 18th century Devon tokens, including the unusually comprehensive Hooper collection of 335 17th century halfpennies and farthings; British Commonwealth coins; and small foreign and Roman coin collections.

Subjects

Numismatics

Photographic Collection

There is an extremely strong and large group of local photographs and those of local events and personalities. Particular collections are: the Tripe collection (1850s); the Rugg Monk collection (1890s); the Astor collection (20th century election campaigns of Nancy Astor); and the City Engineers’ collection (1946-1970 unique record of war damage to the city of Plymouth and its reconstruction).

Subjects

Photography

Archives Collection

The collection includes maps, plans, charts, broadsheets, newspapers and documents. The most important single group is that of documents, printed books and pamphlets related to Sir Francis Drake and his descendants. There is an extensive archive attached to the Cottonian collection which is described under that collection in the fine art category. The manuscript material is normally deposited for specialist storage at the West Devon Record Office.

Subjects

Archives

Other

Agriculture; Maritime; Medicine; Music; Personalia; Transport; Oral history; Science and Industry

Source: Cornucopia

Date: Not known, but before 2015

Licence: CC BY-NC