Collection: Box (Plymouth City Council)

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  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